


Ragnarok

by Aviantei



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Action/Adventure, Based on a Dream, Gen, Whoops this is technically a reverse isekai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-17
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2020-10-20 19:01:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 46,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20680355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aviantei/pseuds/Aviantei
Summary: One year ago, a disturbance of "Chaos" sent Izaya and Shizuo from their world to "Reality." Now aligned with a 'Chaos Management Agency,' the duo have been working together for the sake of finding a way home. However, one mission may force them to adjust their worldview more than they already have.





	1. Cover

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was originally posted on fanfiction.net on March 4, 2015, and it is still ongoing. The idea for this came from a dream, and then I just went a little bit overboard. But if nothing else, it's a fun project for me to work on when I'm in the mood.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

**Ragnarok**

By: Aviantei

1

Cover

* * *

“Is it just me, or does each one of these freakin’ things get bigger every time?”

The blond man reached for his pocket—and the pack of cigarettes inside—before a hand caught his wrist. The man’s companion sighed before letting go and giving a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Now, now, you’re not allowed to smoke in the lobby of this hotel, almost any hotel for that matter, how many times have I told you that?” he remarked before pushing black bangs out of his face. “Focus, honestly.” The blond growled before dropping his hand to the side, forgoing the cigarettes for later.

The brunette’s slender fingers traced down his neck, and the blond mimicked this action in a slightly rougher manner. Ultra-sensitive and voice activated microphones that worked on a broadcasting signal incapable of being interfered with or giving hint of transmission to outside sources rested under a layer of custom made skin imitator. There wasn’t even a bump indicating the mike as it was less than the thickness of the average micro SD card, and the artificial skin even felt like real skin. The brunette would have liked to see someone find the microphone without him peeling off the coating and showing it to them.

Not that he would do such a thing. That would defeat the purpose.

“Test,” he barely whispered, not even concerned by the fact that he could hardly hear himself.

“All voice systems broadcasting properly at designated time, confirm.” This time the voice was that of the blond. The sound came from both beside the brunette and the speaker in his ear at the time; the blond still couldn’t whisper as quietly, although the brunette wasn’t going to take the fact of a deeper toned voice an excuse. Not that it mattered, considering the speaker was even smaller than the microphone and put under the same protections as well. Despite its size, it adjusted the volume of the speaker to a standable level within a specified range, and still produced high quality sound. They were completely unable to be heard by others, unless the noise coming through was horribly loud, and even then it was nothing more than the noise you could hear coming from headphones some kid had turned up too much.

_And that, _the brunette thought, _is what happens when you provide developers with only the best in worth materials and million dollar yearly incomes._ A chorus of responses filled his ear at once, in perfect synchronization. It sounded like the right amount of people, but one could never be sure. Besides, check-in protocol was protocol, no matter how annoying.

“Any difficulties in receiving audio transmission of orders as of now, confirm,” he stated on time, almost out of habit. Even though he had not even been doing this job for a year, he took to things quickly, and instinct and expertise guided him.

“Any difficulties in sending audio transmission of response will be dealt with immediately; please stand by if that is the case.” The allotted period of time had passed in silence, meaning there were no difficulties so far, so the blond had continued with the perfectly timed script. Every action and move in this mission was timed, although things loosened up after the initial check. When the formalities were passed, there was free movement until you were in the critical parts. Then, the things you ran over and over again in drills until you could perform them in your sleep within near impossible time requirements were given high priority. Only in the field were you excused for running over these limits, and _that_ was only when the situation could not be helped and you merely added a few extra seconds to the clock.

“Mission parameters correctly set; focus lies only in current location. Additional entities that do not arrive in this vicinity will be dealt with in future. Do not, under any circumstances, go after targets if they flee the vicinity. Those will be dealt with by the mobile force. Unless you have those difficulties addressed earlier, report to your posts. Time until observation and Command is up: estimated twenty minutes. Time until mission begins: one hour, unchangeable, even in the event of emergency. Dismissed.”

As the brunette finished the only non-verbatim from the latest protocol handbook (and that was only partial at best, since the words were similar to what he said every time, just with different add-ons based on specifics) section of his speaking, there was a slight surge. The group of people that the two males had been standing in the middle of moved away bit by bit, their motions so natural would have needed to expect it to see it.

Despite the suspicious-sounding intentions, the entire group had been dressed in casual clothes. Various television and cartoon characters and pop culture stars were just as common on t-shirts as the slogans and simply color designs, and many of them were in jeans. There were even a few skirts on some of the female members, varying lengths, and, for all purposes, the twenty-some people that had just begun their navigation through the beginnings of a crowded (yet expansive) hotel lobby looked like ordinary people that almost seemed like they weren’t associated at all. And that, of course, was the point.

The only two who could be classified as “unusual” were the superiors, the blond and the brunette, who were in suits. However, they could get away with it, but not because they looked like businessmen.

“Oh, wow, you guys’ cosplay is _amazing_!” a voice exclaimed, and the two looked down to see a particularly short teenage boy with glasses smiling up at them. “The hair, the faces, everything! Are you guys even wearing wigs, ‘cause that looks natural. Oh, wow, your hair even has a tiny bit of brown at the roots, like you bleached it, but not quite. Is brown your natural hair color, or did you do a double dye job for authenticity?”

The blond shifted, shoving his hands in his pockets, looking away from the boy. The brunette laughed as a light side of pink covered his companion’s cheeks, showing his embarrassment. “Ah, thank you very much,” came the response. Comments like this were common, especially when they worked the anime conventions, and the brunette was used to doing all the talking. “We’ve worked very hard to perfect the look, although we started cosplaying as them since we were similar in looks to begin with.” It was a partial lie, but the boy didn’t need to know that. The brunette smiled for effect.

“Oh my god, you even sound like him,” the boy stated in awe, his eyes growing slightly wide. “Hey, hey, Krys, come here!” A girl on the edges of the slowly growing crowd surrounding the elevators turned her head, and the boy waved her over. She pointed at the crowd, but the boy wouldn’t let up, so she heaved a sigh before walking over.

“If we’re stuck walking all the way up to the top floor, Jared, I will kill you,” Krys threatened, crossing her arms over what appeared to be the female Gakuen Hetalia cosplay. Judging by the styling of her hair, it looked like she was cosplaying as Poland. “So tell me just how important this is, and then I’ll decide your fate.”

“Aw, come on, Krys, walking up stairs is good for you!” Jared protested, but the glare aimed in his direction made him quickly get to the point. “Look at these guys; they couldn’t be any more authentic unless they were trying to kill each other! And I don’t think they’re willing to risk losing their hotel room by destroying the lobby. Their Izaya even sounds like Izaya!”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” the “Izaya” remarked in smooth tones. The expression change on Krys’s face was nowhere as extreme as Jared’s, but she did raise her eyebrows in response.

“Damn, that’s impressive,” she remarked. “Did you steal Johnny Yong Bosch’s voice box or something?”

“He kind of sounds like Kamiya-san at the same time, too,” Jared added in. “I mean, Johnny and Kamiya’s voices are close, but his is like the perfect blend between the two…” The boy was clearly one of the overly obsessive types, completely worthy of the title of “fanboy.”

“Hey, what about you, does your voice do that?” The question was directed towards the blond, who only made a sound similar to “hmph” in his throat. “Is that a no? Come on, I just wanna hear of you sound like Shizuo or not, what’s so wrong about that?” When “Shizuo” still gave no answer, “Izaya” grinned before nudging his companion in the ribs with his elbow.

“Come on, Shizu-chan, talk for her~!” he insisted, voice almost a taunting song. “I know you’re not used to all the attention we get, but you should at least try to show off for the ladies~!” The blond twitched in irritation and snapped.

“Shut up, Flea, or I kill you!” he shouted, though keeping his voice still at a volume where it wouldn’t be too much of an attention grabber over the noise of the ever forming crowd. Before all of this, he would have just roared it out, and chunked one of the hotel’s potted plants at him to boot. But now, with this job… He had a purpose and wasn’t willing to ruin it over banter that had once been their only form of speaking to each other.

“There, Shizu-chan, was that so hard?” “Izaya” chirped, letting out another peal of laughter as he tried to reach for “Shizuo’s” hair. His attempts were interrupted by both his hand being batted out of the way and a question from Krys.

“Are you two a Shizaya cosplay duo or…?”

“Izaya” let “Shizuo” shout his protest (a very loud and resounding “NO!” that no one took notice of, thanks again to all the chatter) before giving the explanation he had said so many times before. “No, we are not. To us, the pairing doesn’t really seem canon, although people think we are just because we’re friendly towards each other,” he stated. It was more than the “canon” concept, though; the idea of acting that way, even for cover, made both of them feel sick. “There are certain limits we can go to on hating each other, so we opt for slightly more friendly interactions. Otherwise, we try our best to stay in character as much as our acting skills allow us.”

“Okay, so what gave you inspiration for the suits?”

“_Krys…_” Jared whined, pulling on his friend’s sleeve. “You don’t have to ask so many questions. What’ll I do if you if you piss them off? I might not be able to talk to them again…” Krys rolled her eyes at his paranoia.

“No, no, not at all, it’s a valid question,” “Izaya” assured, shrugging it off. “We’ve just seen some fanart with the concept in it, not to mention it fit really well with this AU fic I read once. We figured we’d mix it up a bit, show something different for cosplay. Not to mention, a lot of girls really seem to like the suits.” He smiled a little bit, even though his logical brain knew the extra attention he was alluding to wasn’t really what they needed. “We even have fake guns that kind of complete the image, but those are still up in our room. We wanted to keep them in good condition for tomorrow, since there’s going to be more people.”

Of course, the weapons were real, although they worked in a different way than firing bullets. More of that specialized technology for you, which meant that it would pass the con’s weapons guidelines without even the slightest trace of suspicion.

Krys nodded in approval, letting a smile onto her face. “Sorry ‘bout the interrogation there, I just like getting all the questions out of the way.” The grin forming was slightly sheepish, but it suited her.” The only problem with that is that I always come off sounding like a bitch when I do that. I’m trying to work on that, though…”

“Hey, can I take a picture with you two?” Jared asked, eyes shining. “Shizuo” shrugged indifferently, and “Izaya” nodded approval for the both of them. A few minutes passed of Jared’s digital camera flashing and trading hands (even into those of a passing member of the hotel staff, for the sake of getting all four in the picture), and then the boy uttered nearly thirty “thank you”-s and clung to the camera like it was made of gold when it was done.

“Oh, do you think we could meet up sometime tomorrow? I really wanna see you guys with the guns, maybe get a few more shots…” Jared’s voice sounded like he was dreaming as he made the request, and “Izaya” couldn’t help but chuckle. This boy’s reactions were so much like those of the hordes of fangirls he had entertained in the past few months.

“Sure, not a problem. Hell, we generally just get dragged into photo shoots and the like, so just ask around and you’ll find us.” Going to the convention was essential in keeping up the act as mere cosplayers, and was actually part of the mission specs, too. They would conduct a similar operation to the one in the hotel tonight in the halls of the connected convention center tomorrow.

Even so, “Izaya” could sense “Shizuo’s” irritation directed towards him on this concept. That wasn’t even something that took practice, since the latter was irritated a good percent of the time, but that didn’t change the fact that he was just so attuned to it.

“Well, it’s almost past Shizu-chan’s bedtime, so you can imagine that he’s getting cranky,” “Izaya” said, not helping out his situation at all. He was quite sure he’d be strangled for that one when the time came. “Well, crankier than usual.” Still not helping. “We were gonna use the stairs, so we’ll part here. Good luck with that elevator and good night.”

“Bye,” chorused Krys and Jared, both smiling and waving.

“Shizuo” made a straight beeline for the door leading to the stairwell, not even bothering to acknowledge that he had even talked with the two otaku. “Izaya” spared them a wave back to make up for it. Once he reached the door (a good five feet behind “Shizuo”), he looked back into the highly crowded lobby, now filled with the many anime con goers preparing to return to their rooms, most clustered around the elevator.

He saw Krys smack Jared in the back of the head for this, and all he could do was laugh.

* * *

“Shizuo” was already near the top of the first flight of stairs when “Izaya” caught up to him. Although the brunette had clearly just ran up the stairs to now walk beside his companion, he was none the worse for wear, and wasn’t even having problems breathing. This wouldn’t have seemed that off, if he had not just ran up there in the time frame of a few seconds, something even the others under his command couldn’t do, no matter how many of them tried to do so in their training sessions. The blond was completely unsurprised by this fact, and continued his trek up to the fifth floor. The shorter of the two wasn’t even looking for praises, and instead checked something on what appeared to be his cell phone.

Because the fact that these two had just cemented themselves in Krys and Jared’s brains as “Izaya” and “Shizuo” had nothing wrong with it, as they truly _were_ Izaya and Shizuo.

“No more,” Heiwajima Shizuo declared, before scoffing. “At least that’s what I’d like to say, but we can’t do that, can we? We gotta put up with it so we can find that source of ‘Chaos’ from back then. It’s the only way to get us home.” The proceeding silence was soon filled with a heavy sigh from the man. “I’m smoking when we get into that hotel room, you got me?”

Orihara Izaya shrugged indifferently at this obvious disregard for the law, returning his phone to his suit pocket. After all, he wasn’t one to talk. “Fine, fine, I’ll just shut down the smoke alarm, like I always do,” he replied casually, as if he was talking about doing the laundry. “You really should loosen up a bit more, though, Shizu-chan. You really just need to have fun with it.”

The fist in Shizuo’s pocket almost tightened, but he stopped himself for the sake of the cigarette pack in his hand. “I really wish you would stop calling me that, Flea.”

“The chances of me stopping calling you ‘Shizu-chan’ are the same as you stopping calling me ‘Flea,’ which is never gonna happen.” Izaya amused himself by jumping over the guardrail from one section of stairs to the other, saving himself the turn. He made his way up the stairs backwards, looking down at Shizuo all the way. “Besides, the fans love it, not to mention people will think it’s strange we’re not calling each other that when we go back, since we don’t know if time will pass there or not…”

“Fine. But it’s not gonna matter, since I’m going to enjoy killing you when we get back. Now that’ll be a show we can’t put on for these otaku.”

“Which is just a bit depressing since I’m sure they’d probably pay us to watch,” Izaya said, thinking about the extra cash. Not that he needed it, but with the Agency, you still had to fill out a lot of annoying and meticulous paperwork, despite the fact that you could still spend it on something completely un-work related without a good reason. Realizing that they had reached their destination floor, Izaya pushed open the door.

“Hey, Flea, about what that kid said,” Shizuo started, catching up with Izaya who was actually holding the door open for him. “Are my roots really starting to show? I kind of lost track of how much time’s passed since we’ve been on so many jobs for the summer season…”

“Only a little bit, but you might want to get it bleached again before the next job,” Izaya replied, skipping down the hall to their room. It was the one at the exact center of the hotel, so they could personally respond to any potential emergencies in the best fashion. The Agency bought out these rooms for operations nearly the entire year in advance. “Then again, some of the girls might like it; the only time they’ve seen you officially with brown hair was since you were in elementary school.”

“Whatever, I’ll take care of it when this is over.” Shizuo didn’t see the point in appealing to anyone, as they would probably only get in the way. Besides, the only time that was useful was when you were seducing your targets, which he had no interest in doing if Izaya could take care of it in his place. Not that he liked letting the flea doing that either, targets or no.

Izaya knew this was his partner’s thought process, and sighed as he slid the card key into the slot below the door handle. “Honestly, Shizu-chan, you need to put more consideration of the concept of ‘cover’; it’s quite important.” The door handle beeped, and the two entered the room, only turning the lights on after the door closed behind them. The two desks in the room had been moved together and now hosted one of the simpler versions of the Agency’s operation command stations. Shizuo went to start everything up while Izaya’s hand went back to his neck, prioritizing his voice communication amongst the agents who had dispersed earlier.

“Sorry, everyone, we’re having a bit of a delay in Command set up. New estimated time stands at ten minutes; operation execution time is unable to be changed. Please be prepared for anything. Specific operations briefing will begin almost immediately after Command is established, please stand by.”


	2. Active

**Ragnarok**

By: Aviantei

2

Active

* * *

“Command is now officially active, cases to be assigned shortly. Your receivers are to remain on at all times from this point on until the mission comes to a close. Any failure to do so that is not the result of an equipment malfunction will ultimately have the consequence of being decommissioned from the Agency.”

Izaya was once again dictating the manual-based speech to the waiting agents who by now were scattered about in their various hotel rooms. He was always the one to do it, but not because Shizuo didn’t know the things to say. They were equally capable in this aspect, but Izaya just possessed a natural eloquence that Shizuo lacked. Izaya wasn’t complaining either, because talking more gave him a sense of superiority, just like it always had, even though he was ranked the same as his partner.

“All agents are reminded that your targets are chosen by a combination of convenience and Chaos threat. Your priority is not to be seen by anyone while in the midst of operations, particularly non-targets. Thus, you will only go after those targets that are alone, unless there are multiple targets gathered together. If this is the case, there must be at least one agent per target in the operations group.

“Those targets that are marked at levels eighty and higher are not to be dealt with alone, with number of members in accordance with Agency requirements. Any targets exceeding the two-hundred level mark are only to be dealt with by myself and Commander Heiwajima; you are required to inform us if this is the case. Your initial assignments are being sent out now; your additional assignments will go in accordance with the time and location of completion. If you believe you are near an optimal target, once again, contact myself or Commander Heiwajima for permission.

“Remember to take extreme caution when dealing with targets. Unnecessary aggravation of targets may result in a surge of Chaos that will not harm you. However, it will cause damage to other worlds, which may ultimately come to affect ours. These effects are generally irreversible.

“Time until mission commences is ten minutes, you are under command to stand by.”

Izaya switched off his mike afterwards, almost getting tired of doing this. It was the same speech every single time, and it was more than just a little bit annoying. The fact that each mission was different was his primary motivator, as it was impossible to have the same combination of targets being dealt with by the same group of agents, making each mission unique. And for not even being on the job a year, not a single mission that he and Shizuo had headed had gone wrong.

Their target on this mission was the “Chaos” that present throughout most commands. It was a powerful force with a number of causes, and highly dangerous. Not necessarily to this plane of existence, but to others.

Every single television show, every single book ever written, every single _thought_ had in the terms of creating a story had its own dimension out there, technically close, but still impossibly far away. Those that came first, those were the original worlds. And then the fans gave those worlds additional energy, but it came in two forms.

Purity was the base of the worlds, and a lot of the energy given to those worlds was of this type. It came from love for the worlds people believed to be fake, but was even more so present when people expressed this love and showed it off to those with like minds. Many forms of this were possible, but the more common medias were practiced by those that currently filled this hotel: fanfiction, fanart, and cosplay.

Of course, where there were good, wonderful, and absolutely fantastic versions of these expressions, there were also the bad, and those were the source of this “Chaos” the Agency was seeking to detain, which was dangerous in the way Izaya had stated earlier. However, as research had showed it to be, there were far too many variables for distinction of what exactly ended in which energy was produced.

So instead of searching that way to locate the problem (research was still going on, though; more of those researchers with their impossible salaries), a system was created that tracked both Chaos and Purity readings. And while some areas were more active than others on the scales, there were places that never failed to have high readings and marked as priority mission locations.

Those places were fan conventions; very much like the anime one Izaya and Shizuo were attending right now.

Shizuo, who had spent the entire time frame of Izaya’s issuing of orders taking into account targets that had yet to be assigned to agents, stopped his typing a few minutes after the brunette was done. He had never been very good with technology, but the situation had essentially forced some amount of skill onto him in the past months. And while he could work the system to the necessary extent, it took a good amount of concentration not to lose his patience with the thing.

“Hey, Izaya, you checked out those two kids earlier, right?” he asked. “What were their names again…? Jamie and Kate?”

“Jared and Krys,” Izaya corrected, not ceasing his own typing or looking away from the computer screen in the process. That was a level of multi-tasking Shizuo knew he could never match (as much as he hated to admit), but could make himself feel better about by the fact that the former informant had much more experience with computers than himself. By the time Shizuo had learned to work the system, Izaya had already mastered it, made some personalized program adjustments, and was working the thing entirely through the keyboard. “And yes, I did. They both check out exceptionally.”

A few extra punches on the keyboard were made before Izaya stopped, and when he turned his screen towards Shizuo, the blond could see the two kids’ system profiles glowing at him. “The boy doesn’t have a speck of Chaos on him; he only role-plays a little, and has so much love for anything he gets into, his Purity could probably fuel about ten separate targets. The girl only has a bit of Chaos, but I think her reading’s from the boost the con gives. That and she’s a little bit more involved: multiple RP accounts and a series of written one-shots. But they’re nothing to worry about, especially when their collective level mark is in the single digits.”

Shizuo nodded at this, lighting up a second cigarette, despite the fact that he had just barely finished his first. “So we’re not going to have to send anyone to Neutralize them?” he questioned. In a few more taps at the keyboard, Izaya had cleared the profiles and resumed his work, shaking his head in response as he did so. “That’s good; they seemed like really good kids, even though I wasn’t in the mood to deal with them.”

Although there wasn’t actually an energy source that rested between Chaos and Purity, the Agency had still termed the concept as “Neutrality,” since neither of the energies existed in that state. While the ideal thing to do would be to ultimately take the targets and replace their Chaos with a minimal amount of Purity, they were nowhere near optimized enough to do this. So instead, they settled with Neutrality, giving the targets a chance to gain Purity instead. There were still cases where targets reverted back to their Chaos state, but they were still lesser threats to the balance of energies than they had been before.

The weapons they used varied in looks, modeled after various things that were easier to get through the convention’s check-in desks, but each agent still possessed a gun model, simply because it was easier to use for most people. It worked by sending Purity into the target, ultimately combining with their Chaos output and breaking it down. It was a simple process really, and the basic weapons even worked in a fifty-foot radius, which was more than enough. It was really a wonder how the Agency even supported itself with all the money it spent on specialists in merely a month.

“Okay, time to focus, Shizu-chan,” Izaya remarked, resetting his mike back into the active setting. Shizuo finished his cigarette and put it out in the ash tray he had earlier gotten from his belongings (it was getting harder to find places that allowed you to smoke, so he came prepared) before turning back to his computer and activating his mike as well. “All equipment still working properly, confirm.”

There was a chorus of replies, the same as earlier, and both males in the hotel room prepared themselves. Izaya grinned as he spoke his favorite words from the protocol manual.

“All systems online, priorities established. Mission status is officially set to active; you may begin.”

* * *

While the hotel’s main lobby was quite large, that was nothing what happened when you traveled to the second floor. There rested an extra expanse of floor space that had its ceiling open all the way up to the banisters surrounding the top floor. The furnishings varied between the extravagant to what you could find in a fast food restaurant. The more lavish pieces were set up as more of the type of thing for people to relax and wait on, but the more commonplace items were set up around a part of this room that served as a food court.

The area had been more crowded before in the past, but now was still nothing to be shrugged off. The crowd from earlier had thinned considerably, but there were still those clustering around the additional elevators that were in this part of the building. Even so, there were others just scattered about the furniture, deciding to just wait for the crowds to disperse before even attempting to ride on an elevator. Apparently this was a much better option than making the trek up to whichever floor they were being housed on.

Some such groups had even come prepared for this situation, and sat about with books, portable game systems, and the occasional deck of cards to use to pass the time. One of these groups had even brought a boom box that was now plugged into an outlet in one of the cafés. Although those who had brought it were no longer paying attention to it, it still played at a low volume. And if anyone were to listen to it, they would discover something strange.

The song was one that many people at the con would recognize, even if it might take them a few moments. Some of them would be used to a different voice, but that was also to be expected, since there were many different versions of the song if one took a look around in the right places. But even so, it was not a song to be playing on a radio station, no matter what kind, and yet the device’s display claimed that’s what it was on.

_Poppu ni sensu o utaou ka_  
sekai utsumuichau mae ni  
kyutto shichatta kokoro no oto o douzo  
mada-mada wasurenai wa  
Nante kirei na nagame na n deshou ka  
koko kara mieru fuukei  
kitto nani hitotsu kawaranai kara  
kareta jimen o hau no  
Hoppu-suteppu de odorou ka—

And just as soon as anyone could take notice to the event (which no one did), it was over, and the music suddenly cut out into a DJ for a Saturday night broadcast that could have been happening anywhere in the world. The transition wasn’t a smooth one, but abrupt, almost like changing the channel, but the boom box’s owners remained oblivious to it, let alone actually touching it to be a catalyst.

“Ah, I couldn’t pull it off after all…”

These words came from one table over along with a small sigh, spoken by girl who hadn’t seemed to be paying any attention either, despite the boom box being just as close to her as it was to the others. But seeing as she was the only one giving any sort of reaction to the strange occurrence on the radio, she clearly had been, despite having her nose buried in the small red notebook she had been scribbling in. It might have been a premature assumption, but you could guess she was a participant in the con by the napkin in front of her displaying an anime style drawing.

To be specific, it looked to be a drawing of Izaya, although he was dressed far differently in this drawing than his actual appearance in the hotel room only a few floors above. He was wearing one of the jackets deemed to be his trademark by the fans, which was black per usual. There were a few variations from his typical appearance, though, as that his hair had been left white save for slight blue highlights which adorned the fur linings on his jacket as well. Some would find this odd, but those in the know would understand once they saw the headphones around his neck, indicating him as one of the Psychedelic Dreams versions.

Written alongside this drawing was the caption of “Limone,” the name of a Japanese fandubber who often sung various songs while imitating Izaya’s voice (who had found some of these while researching to better fit into the fan community; he was greatly amused).

Another napkin beside this one had also been marked on in pen, but instead of a drawing it held words. Some might expect a note or maybe even something resembling a story idea, but this was not the case. Instead, the lyrics for the song that had just been mysteriously playing on the neglected radio were written out in small capital letters, along with the heading of “World’s End Dance Hall.”

“Couldn’t pull what off, Karellen?”

The girl’s head suddenly popped up at the sound of her name, sending her shoulder length light brown hair slightly fluttering. The small jolt she gave ended in a small ink dot being marked onto the page of her notebook. “Ah, crap…” she muttered, even though no words had been obstructed by it. Her younger brother leaned over her shoulder in an attempt to see what was happening.

“Did you miss some important plot hole or something…?”

Karellen Fenlon snapped the book shut from her brother’s gaze in embarrassment, and gave him a small glare in response. “No, Elijah,” she responded slightly harshly. “And you know the planning stages of my stories are none of your business.” Elijah stuck his tongue out at this, and Karellen responded by doing the same.

“Really, you two?” Michael Fenlon questioned from the other side of the table, and both returned their tongues to their mouths. He had to admit it was better than the physical fights they occasionally got into at home, but it was still something he wished they would hold off on while in public. “But really, Spud, what were you muttering about this time? Is something wrong?”

Karellen tried to ignore the nickname considering she wasn’t around her father much (her mother also used an equally embarrassing one, but at least she was used to that), but could feel a blush creeping onto her cheeks for a different reason. She talked to herself a lot, a habit from not being around people much, but she could have sworn her sentence had stayed in her head for once. Even so, this was clearly not the case, so she was forced to respond.

“Ah, I was thinking about dessert,” she said, pushing her glasses up to better frame her brown eyes. “I really wanted some, but I don’t think my stomach can hold it. I think I’ll just wait until tomorrow and try again at lunch…”

“How can you be full already; you hardly ate anything,” Elijah protested. “You never eat enough, you know. No wonder you’re such a stick.”

Not putting out her tongue again took more effort than Karellen would have liked, but she resisted the urge anyway. In fact, she ignored her brother entirely and talked to her father instead. “Actually I’m kinda feeling tired. Since I’m not gonna eat dessert may I have the card key? I think I’ll just walk up to our room and turn in early.”

“Sure thing,” Michael responded, reaching into his pocket. Karellen mumbled a quick “thank you” when he handed her the plastic, and proceeded to load the napkins and notebook into her small side bag, adorned with _Bleach_ images and logos, as well as a pin set of _Durarara!! _characters.

“You’re really gonna walk up to the room? I’d rather wait for the elevator…” Elijah made his declaration after finishing off his third cup of pop for the meal. Karellen rolled her eyes and ruffled his hair.

“It’s only on the fourth floor, you wuss. Besides, I could walk up to the room, walk back down, and back up again in the time it would take for me to even get _on_ the elevator,” she rationalized, leaving Elijah to pout over his now messy hairdo. “Night, you guys.”

Karellen adjusted the strap of her bag one last time before walking off to the nearest stairwell, which was farther away than what she had expected. Then again, they had been in the middle of the room, so it only stood to reason. She had only gone a few feet before her phone vibrated in her back pocket, which she heard more than more than she felt. Looking at the screen, she was informed of the new text message from someone labeled “Liet.”

_Hey, Fel, Jared wanted me to let you know that he saw these “awesomely fantastical” Izaya and Shizuo cosplayers earlier and figured you’d be interested since you’re just as much of a fan that he is. He would have told you himself, but he’s currently spamming the Internet with these pictures he took. He says he’ll send you the links through anyway possible._

_Oh, and we’re looking forward to hanging out with you tomorrow, considering we haven’t seen you in person for a whole year~! You know me, I’ll be the Gakuen Poland, and Jared will be a fanboy. See ya then~!_

There was a smile on Karellen’s face as she typed out a quick reply, shoving the device back into her pocket after the send was confirmed. She continued the trek to the stairwell while humming the song from earlier under her breath.

Even so, there was a certain serious look in her eye when she passed a man in the hallway. But it was only there for a second, and gone by the time anyone would have had the opportunity for a second glance. This time, she made sure that the words stayed in her brain without escaping into the air.

_So they’ve begun, huh?_


	3. Engage

**Ragnarok**

By: Aviantei

3

Engage

* * *

Izaya finally switched off his microphone, taking a moment to enjoy the radio silence. Shizuo was doing the same, already working through what was at least his fifth cigarette. He had never bothered to count them before, so there was no reason to start now, unless the ash tray started to overflow. Shizuo would never admit it, but he was pretty grateful that Izaya could disable a smoke alarm, no matter how suspicious of a skill it was.

“If you’re not careful, you’re going to turn all the monitors yellow someday, Shizu-chan,” Izaya taunted.

Shizuo frowned. “What’s the matter Flea?” he asked. He normally wouldn’t care, but this was different. If it had to do with the mission, then it was Shizuo’s business. Izaya’s eyebrows raised before he attempted to send a glare in the blonde’s direction. It didn’t have much effect. “That wasn’t even close to being a real insult. What’s distracting you?”

“Impressive Shizu-chan, you’re becoming more perceptive than I ever imagined.” Shizuo waited. Eventually, Izaya sighed. “Do you remember how we got here?”

Shizuo scoffed. “Of course I remember.” There was no way he could forget. The explanation had confused him a bit at first, but he had committed it to memory. Nearly a year ago, there had been a powerful surge of Chaos that had affected their home dimension. Not only that, but connecting pulses had made it to this dimension of ‘Reality,’ taking Izaya and Shizuo along with it. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Izaya closed his eyes, not saying anything. Shizuo took a drag from his cigarette, then proceeded to crush the butt into the ashtray. It made him feel a bit better. “You don’t think that the source of the Chaos is here, do you?” Shizuo asked.

Izaya turned his chair around so that he was facing the other male. “I don’t know,” he admitted, eyes narrowing. The words probably felt bitter in his mouth for a guy who prided himself on knowing everything. “I just have the feeling that we’re dealing with something unlike anything we’ve ever dealt with before is all.”

Shizuo grunted. He didn’t want to take the Flea’s word for it, but his own gut was telling him something similar. He didn’t know whether to feel disgusted by the idea of sharing instincts with Izaya or cautious because they had the same feeling at all.

“Listen, Flea—”

“_Clark reporting in, target has been Neutralized. Requesting new assignment._”

Shizuo let out a small growl at the sound of the transmission in his ear. While it was a good thing that a call was coming in so quickly since it meant that their unit was getting their job done, the timing couldn’t have been worse. Even if most members of the Agency knew about Izaya and Shizuo’s situation, the latter didn’t have the patience to deal with anyone else to talk about it.

“You really should answer that, Shizu-chan,” Izaya remarked. The brunette had already turned back to his computer, navigating through the assignments. Shizuo resisted the urge to punch something. Just being in Izaya’s presence didn’t set off a hair trigger like it had used to, but that didn’t stop the Flea from being annoying as all hell at times. “You know how the Agency likes to be punctual. Besides, there’s no point in us getting worked up over nothing, anyway.”

Shizuo lit another cigarette. If Izaya wanted to be like that, then fine. The sooner they finished up the mission they might be able to talk about this again.

“This is Heiwajima. Report in.”

* * *

“Sir. I am currently near the lobby area. A potential target has headed up the stairs alone. Should I engage?”

A grunt. “_What do her Chaos levels look like?_”

“She only ranks in at twenty-two. However, all other high risk targets in the immediate area are in clusters and impossible to engage without causing a scene.”

“_Go for it, then. Send feedback on her data and engage when able._”

“Yes, sir.”

Karellen took a deep breath, shifting her focus away from the conversation. There was something familiar about the voice from Command, but she couldn’t place it. If she didn’t know any better, she would have said that it sounded almost like a dream, or something impossible. She shook her head, pushing off from the wall in the stairwell she had been leaning against.

She didn’t have time for this.

“Crap, though, this is getting kind of bad…” she muttered, heading up the stairs. Karellen reached into her bag for her headphones, which released J-pop music into her ears on command. Twenty-two. Her level was only twenty-two, and they were still coming after her. And after all the work she had done to avoid something like this…

_They’re getting serious. Shit, just who the hell is in Command now?_

Karellen took the stairs up to the second floor, then left the stairwell. She wouldn’t be able to get to her room just yet, but that was for the best. They would be waiting when she made it, but she couldn’t afford a conflict just yet.

“If they’re avoiding clusters, then I just need to stick by a cluster then…” Karellen smiled, and took a deep breath. Even if they all shared a same interest, she still couldn’t get used to talking with strangers. She looked around and wasn’t disappointed. A group of con-goers was gathered around one of the room’s doorways. “Hey! Your cosplay looks great!” she complimented as she approached them.

_Sorry for using you. I just need a little longer._

* * *

“It sounds like you’ve picked up a pretty interesting one, eh, Shizu-chan?” Izaya asked, finishing up dealing orders to another agent. It seemed that things were going well so far, which alleviated some of Izaya’s concern. There wasn’t much that could make him worry, and the fact that he was even concerned at all just made the situation worse.

Not that he’d ever let that on to Shizuo of all people. A year away from home hadn’t been enough to change that.

Shizuo shrugged in response. “Yeah, I guess,” he murmured, taking another drag from his cigarette. Izaya resisted the urge to grimace. At some point or another, he had developed an aversion to cigarettes due to mere association with the blonde. The unintentional emersion he had been exposed to from close proximity didn’t do much to change that either.

Glancing over, Izaya watched as Shizuo still navigated through the menus of the Agency’s operating system, tracking down the newest target’s location information. All it took was a little extra research and the programmers back at headquarters could connect badge information, hotel room or location, and biometric signals together with Chaos wavelength as the linchpin. The fact that they could invade privacy like that without repercussions just went to show how powerful they were.

Izaya had yet to figure it out if that power came from influence or money, and he didn’t like either option much anyway.

“Come on, Shizu-chan, you could share a little bit, here. All of my current targets are barely worth mentioning, let alone Neutralizing,” Izaya almost whined. This job could be fun at times, but at others it could be extremely boring. Whenever targets had boring records, it made Izaya’s interest in what he was doing drop.

Shizuo rolled his eyes. “You just want something to amuse yourself with,” the blonde accused. Izaya wouldn’t deny it. “Why does this have to be so complicated with you? There was an agent near a target. Right place, right time. End of story.”

Shizuo could be so simple at times. “You can’t tell me you aren’t the least bit curious about the people we deal with,” Izaya tried.

“I’m not like you, Flea.” Izaya resisted the urge to scoff. That much was so obvious that it didn’t need to be said. “I just want to get this job done and over with. I don’t need to snoop around in these people’s lives whenever it’s not going to mean anything the second we get back home.”

Izaya frowned. Even if that was a somewhat good point, he wasn’t about to lose to Shizuo of all people in a battle of logic. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed the similarities between our world and this one,” he said. “Just because there are some key differences doesn’t make everything immediately different. There’s a chance that some of the people here will exist in our world. I just can’t waste time doing nothing here, but it’s the best I can do. Some of us actually have to put effort into their jobs, Shizu-chan.”

Shizuo took a long drag, exhaling it. “I’m not in the mood to fight with you, so will you knock it off already?”

“How rude. I was simply trying to make a point,” Izaya retorted, frowning. The worst part of it was that Shizuo was right, too. Why did he have to be so good at making inferences one instant after failing to draw simple conclusions? Couldn’t he just pick one thing and stick with it? “That being said, I have job related reasons, too. Information is power, Shizu-chan. The more we know about our targets, we have a better chance of properly Neutralizing them without any complications.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Shizuo dismissed. “That shit’s your specialty, not mine. Don’t make me do your dirty work for you.”

“In that case, I thank you for your gracious offer.” Izaya turned back to his keyboard, hiding his scowl. He had been able to maintain his calm around Shizuo for almost a year, why was it breaking down now? Surely he had better self-control than that.

Izaya inhaled, focusing on his keyboard. Whenever he had made his modifications to the system, he had added in some back doors to Shizuo’s section of Command. While his original intention had been to take over in the impending event of Shizuo’s inadequacy, that had surprisingly turned out to not be much of an issue after a few missions.

Now, it was more of a way to keep track of things that Shizuo didn’t bother to deal with on his own, as well as accessing records whenever reports needed to be submitted. A few strokes of the keyboard later and Izaya was left to wait for Shizuo’s transmissions to load and he could look into the matter himself.

Eventually, the silence and tension let Izaya know he needed to say something. While he didn’t care of their relationship crumbled, it would get in the way of the end goal easily. And as much as Izaya enjoyed the idea of going home alone, leaving Shizuo behind and leading a Shizu-chan-free life, he wasn’t sure such a thing was even possible.

“This isn’t just about that, though,” Izaya admitted, his voice lacking the previous sarcasm. Shizuo didn’t say anything, but he didn’t object either. “There’s a chance that one of the people we end up Neutralizing is responsible for the Chaos that sent us here. If we analyze their data and patterns, we might be able to pinpoint them.” He turned back around to face his partner.

“So now you want to talk about it,” Shizuo said, turning his own chair around. Another cigarette was dangling from his lips, and Izaya resisted the urge to scrunch up his nose. Probably the only reason Shizuo didn’t have lung cancer yet was that he was a monster. “So when I try to ask questions you dodge the point, but when you ask questions, I’m expected to go along with it.”

“Ugh, you’re so petty, Shizu-chan. I was just trying to avoid a stalled mission just because you suddenly felt the need to prioritize sentimentality over practicality.” Izaya spun his chair around again, clicking to access the data he was looking for, then turned back, completing a circle. “If you want to talk about home so badly, then do it.”

Shizuo finished his drag off the cigarette, balancing it between his fingers. “Alright, then. If you’re looking into all this data stuff so seriously, have you found anything yet?”

Izaya smirked. “I haven’t found a solution, but I’ve at least discovered plenty of clues,” he said. “First off, the Agency reports have kept records of just how much Chaos erupted the night we came here. Secondly, the Agency also classifies targets by their Chaos levels. From these two things I can determine the minimum amount of people that would be necessary to produce such a result.”

Izaya liked to think that Shizuo looked mildly impressed. Sometimes it was hard to tell with his damn sunglasses getting in the way. Why did he even wear them? “And that is?” the blonde prompted.

“Approximately five-hundred thousand with average values, not counting anomalies. Far more than would be conceivable for even places like Comic Con to mass, even if you assume that all people in attendance have at least the average amount of Chaos in them,” Izaya reported. “In terms of probability, very unlikely to happen. As such, it would take _at least_ several high-class Chaos sources in combination with a convention in order to make a disturbance big enough to bring us here.”

Shizuo nodded, although Izaya questioned just how much he understood. “Yeah, but isn’t the Agency already looking into stuff like that? I’m sure that they have records like that already,” Shizuo said. “You’re really not getting anywhere new, Flea.”

Izaya scowled. Things would be less frustrating if Shizuo just listened in awe like he was supposed to. “That’s just the groundwork, you protozoan. And while the Agency has this and several other data sources available, they do a terrible job at producing results from them. Sure, Command officers are on the lookout for targets exceeding the eighty-level mark, but they focus too much on the present instead of the past.

“In other words, they completely neglect what their levels were in the past, and thus fail to recognize who is the source.”

“Okay, that makes sense,” Shizuo said. Izaya would take that as a victory. “So you’re researching in case you find a potential source. Have you found anyone yet?”

And that was where Izaya’s progress came to a halt. “These things take time, Shizu-chan. We’ve been to a lot of places, but we haven’t encountered every person that’s been to a convention in the past year. But in short, the reason I spend so much time—let’s see, how did you oh so elegantly put it?—‘snooping around in these people’s lives,’ was it? Honestly, Shizu-chan, I’m not some animal like you.”

Shizuo’s eyes narrowed. “Watch it.” The blonde’s voice was gruff and dangerous. Izaya didn’t mind at all. It was fun to see how far he could push his former enemy’s buttons, to test the waters for his limits. The more Shizuo got used to the brunette’s taunts, the less annoyed he would get in the future at the little things.

It was like training a dog.

Izaya waved a hand in the air. “My bad, my bad,” he said, a weak apology. “But in short, that’s the reason you were looking for right? Does that satisfy you?”

“Why didn’t you just say so?” Shizuo sounded dismissive enough, his former irritation seemingly forgotten. No matter how much his body language suggested it, Izaya didn’t want to take the chance of misreading him. Shizuo leaned farther back in his chair. “Huh, who thought all this data stuff could be so useful? Is that why you became an information broker?”

Izaya turned back to his computer screen, looking through the list of Shizuo’s recent target assignments. At the top of the list, a girl with light brown hair past her shoulders stared back at him through the lenses of her glasses. He accessed her profile and waited for it to load, looking to Shizuo.

“Something like that,” he admitted. “Information is powerful. Everyone needs it, not matter what facet of life they get involved in. I was good at it, and Shiki-san helped me get started. The connections to the underworld were simply an interesting bonus…and of course it lets me learn more about my precious little humans.”

Shizuo grimaced. “It creeps me out whenever you talk about people like that, Flea,” he said. Izaya shrugged, smiling a bit. He hoped it made Shizuo feel even more uncomfortable. “I bet your parents are real pieces of work. Just look at how you and your sisters turned out.”

“Don’t be rude, Shizu-chan, my parents are just as normal as anyone.” Shizuo didn’t seem convinced. Izaya laughed. “I’m being honest here. I became the way I am on my own. My sisters were my fault. No need to blame my parents for my behavior any more than we can blame yours for giving birth to such a monster.”

Shizuo grunted. “The data you were looking for just finished.” It was such a desperate attempt to finish the conversation that Izaya laughed again.

“Thank you very much, Shizu-chan,” he almost cooed. He saw Shizuo shudder before turning back around.

_I’ll have to give him some credit…Shizu-chan certainly can be more amusing than I initially gave him credit for._

Izaya settled in to read through the girl’s profile. The Agency’s data files were immense, and certain targets had the chance of filling up sizable files if they were enough of a threat or attended enough conventions. Their home, some of their history, their interests—everything possible that could work in their advantage to Neutralizing Chaos.

Karellen Fenlon didn’t seem to be much of an issue. She ranked in at twenty-two. She wrote fanfiction and occasionally dabbled in fanart. Most of her activities didn’t seem to be an issue, and her Chaos level was probably only at the number it was because of the convention’s influence. Izaya may have been paranoid for nothing, but it was better to be sure than to think you were safe when you actually weren’t.

On the verge of yawning, Izaya scrolled down.

“_Shit._”


	4. Illusion

**Ragnarok**

By: Aviantei

4

Illusion

* * *

Agent Oliver Grewal headed up the stars in confidence. His target—some teenage girl with light brown hair and a _Bleach_ bag covered in pins almighty—had spent time milling about the third floor, chatting it up with some cosplayers, finally letting them go as they headed off to the convention, but not without scribbling down some of their contact information for later. It had been boring to wait, and the Agent had just barely escaped a few odd looks from passing hotel customers, but that was something he had just learned to deal with as part of the job.

It wasn’t easy, working for the Chaos Management Agency. However, it was more interesting than any other job in the world, just like it was ripped right out of some sci-fi movie or whatever. The Self-Chaos Gauge displaying on the inside of his glasses went up a point, and Grewal did his best to curb his thoughts. His job was to get rid of Chaos, not create it.

Finally, though, his target was heading up to her room, where she would be isolated. Neutralizing someone was simple enough once you got used to it. He could get there around the same time, maybe strike up a conversation, and activate his gear. Her Chaos level wasn’t even thirty. It would be simple.

“Display location,” Grewal muttered to himself. The interface on the inside of his sunglasses adjusted, displaying a map of the hotel with a marker over his target’s current location. _Room 419._ Adjusting his Neutralizer inside his pocket, the Agent left the stairwell, searching the numbers painted on the doors. Six rooms later, there was a corner, and Grewal turned it.

Only to see himself standing at the door.

_No way._

He had heard about this before. His mentor had told him stories upon entering the Agency—about people who could make you see things, kids who were the _real_ problem the CMA was fighting. Grewal hadn’t believed it, but this proved it was real. He even blinked a few times and lowered his sunglasses to the tip of his nose.

And he was still standing there.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. He pushed his glasses back up, rereading his target’s stats. _Karellen Fenlon; age: eighteen; Chaos level: twenty-two. Twenty-two._ This was wrong. The biggest threat he had ever encountered in the field had a level in the sixties, and it still hadn’t been anything like this. Eighty was the minimum number it took to call in Command to take control, and even that wasn’t—

Grewal needed to get a grip, and he needed to get it fast. According to his monitoring equipment, the girl he was following didn’t have a high enough Chaos score to be able to create these sorts of things. That meant he could handle her. There wasn’t a need to contact Command. Easing his thoughts, Grewal lowered his hand from the trigger that would set off the emergency signal.

The real problem was, if the girl wasn’t the one making the illusion, then somebody else was, and Grewal had no idea who that could be. According to the debriefing his CMA unit had been given en route to the convention, none of the preregistered guests were expected to exceed standard levels up to forty. That didn’t always account for the people that bought their tickets at the door or people who were nearby on other business, but if someone to bring this much of a Chaos threat were in the area, the Agency should have _known_.

As an agent, Grewal’s primary objective was to Neutralize the targets he was assigned to. However, the main objective of the _Agency_ was to minimize the Chaos Effect in other worlds by lowering the total amount of Chaos levels. If there was a source this powerful around, Grewal had a duty to at least try and locate it to assist Command.

Once again, he reached for the small control panel on his neck, hidden under a layer of synthetic skin. Grewal was about to tap it twice to call in, but stopped. He had been going over the details of his situation to make sure he could report them accurately, and had realized he had yet another problem.

Mainly, the illusion he was seeing looked _just like him_. This became especially important when it just so happened to be standing guard _right in front of his target’s room._

_Whoever this is,_ Grewal concluded, taking deep breaths in an attempt not to panic, _knows who I am. They know what I do, too. This is bad. This target doesn’t just have an insane Chaos level under their control, but they know about the CMA, too._

He had to do something. Anything. What if the Chaos source was a spy inside the Agency? That could only end badly. Briefly, Grewal’s thoughts flickered to Heiwajima and Orihara. While they were skilled leaders, they had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. What if…?

_No._ He couldn’t start doubting the people in Command. If he did that, then he really would be alone. Forcing himself into action, Grewal took a few steps towards the illusion of himself, painfully aware of the sweat that was starting to form in his armpits. Illusion Grewal didn’t move to acknowledge any movement, just remained stationary.

It was strange moving closer to the illusion. Every little detail of Grewal was preserved, from the mole on the right side of his neck to the aglet-less ends of his fraying shoelaces. The agent had to repress a shudder. His new target was either very powerful or had gotten an incredibly good look at him. Grewal didn’t want to think of the result if the case was both.

Illusion Grewal continued to stare at some unidentifiable point, not seeing anything.

But what if that wasn’t the case? What if the person who had made Illusion Grewal could actually see through its eyes? What if the lack of action was a trap to lure Grewal into submission, and the illusion could affect reality?

What if it was a perfect physical replica?

As an agent, Grewal’s training was screaming at him not to let his imagination get out of hand, just in case it would create unnecessary Chaos. He couldn’t help it. If getting into the CMA was _like_ getting dragged into a movie, this—_this_ was the real freaking deal. This was the plot, the action, the time to shine, and Grewal just _had_ to know if there was a chance that maybe he could be a hero.

Partway out of a need to assess the situation for his own safety, and even far more out of a desire based in pure curiosity, Grewal reached his hand up the blue-rimmed sunglasses on Illusion Grewal’s face and attempted to pick them up.

Thankfully—or possibly disappointingly—his hand passed right through. It wasn’t just the glasses, either. Upon further inspection, Grewal was able to pass his entire hand through the illusion’s head and touch the door behind it. Illusion Grewal looked the same as ever, except for the block where the real Grewal’s arm was at the moment. The imagery of pushing a hole into his own face might have been disturbing if Grewal were not so fascinated by the scene.

An illusion. _A real, honest-to-shit illusion._

Almost as if it was intended to break him out of his reverie, Grewal’s earpiece crackled to life. _“What the hell do you think you’re just doing standing there?”_ the voice of Orihara yelled. _“Your target is confirmed to be inside. You need to get inside and attempt to Neutralize or incapacitate her. Shizu-chan and I will be up in a few minutes, so get off your ass and _get in there_!”_

And just like that, the transmission was over, and so was Grewal’s slacking. Doing a quick five-second assessment of his gear, the agent took a deep breath and backed up a few steps. Once he was sure he would have enough momentum, Grewal rushed through the illusion copy of himself before letting his foot impact against the door of Room 419.

He managed to break the doorknob but not the hinges; he could still get in, so Grewal couldn’t bring himself to care. Which part of the door broke mattered almost as much as the cost to repair it, which the CMA would easily be able to cover.

Tightening his grip on his 3DS disguised Neutralizer, Grewal was glad he had chosen to wear gloves for all the sweat now obvious in his palms. With a silent hope that Command would be able to prevent an incident in the hall for the broken door, the agent paced his steps as he walked down the small hallway that served as the room’s entrance. The bedroom portion of Room 419 came into view, one of the two beds occupied by his original target, who couldn’t seemed to be bothered to look up from her notebook, despite the fact that her room had just been broken into.

The pencil in the girl’s hand made a few more strokes. She frowned, then picked up an eraser on the bedspread to eliminate a large section of whatever was on the page. She used so much force that the act of erasing seemed like one of great violence, eraser dust ensuing from the carnage.

Heaving a great sigh, Karellen Fenlon looked up and said, “It’s really rude to break down doors to get inside rooms, Oliver. Next time, I suggest you knock.”

* * *

Izaya’s shout made Shizuo jump, although he would never admit it out loud. Still, it didn’t change the fact of how surprised he was. Always, _always_, the Flea had kept his cool, ever painfully obvious by the smoothness in his voice. It was always “Come now, don’t be such an idiot” this or “You really are a monster” that, calmly, coolly, and under control. On the few occasions where Izaya _did_ raise his voice, it was always just enough so that he could be heard over whatever distance was between them at the moment.

But it was never like this.

Furthermore, Izaya was scrambling to equip his gear. Orihara Izaya. _Scrambling_. Shizuo could only stare, trying to absorb the scene but not really being able to _comprehend_ it. That had been another thing about Izaya’s cool. It was why he was more in control of Command, because he knew how not to let situations get to him. His ability to keep his thoughts collected wasn’t just a benefit, it was taken for granted.

“Whoa, Flea, what the hell’s your deal?” Shizuo asked, because, for once in his life, Izaya wasn’t saying anything.

“Ugh, Shizu-chan, why is it that you’ve chosen this moment to be such an utter _imbecile_,” Izaya seethed, not even attaching a question mark onto the end of his words. Pausing in attaching the holster for his Neutralizer to his belt, Izaya picked up the pack with Shizuo’s gear and threw it at the blonde. Given who the target was, it didn’t cause any damage, but it did make an audible sound of impact. “There’s no time to waste on words not paired up with actions. So, in case it wasn’t _obvious_ enough for you, we’re needed in the field to Neutralize a target that ordinary stock agents can’t handle on their own. Now, will you stop sticking your head up your ass and get ready?”

Seeing as Izaya was only half equipped and looked ready to run out of the room at any given second, Shizuo opened his own equipment pack, trying to get his gear prepared without making some stupid mistake like not fastening things properly. “I don’t get it, Flea,” he said, sliding the Interface Sunglasses—a perfect replica of his own, technology aside—on. “There wasn’t an emergency call or anything, plus the sensors haven’t gone off. So what’s the deal?”

Somehow fully equipped in less than a minute—had that been a training requirement? Shizuo couldn’t remember—Izaya strode toward the door. “Because,” he said, his voice mostly back under control aside from a few traces of irritation, “like I said before, the Agency is a bunch of fools who only care about current display ratings as opposed to past and confirmed threats. Why they even code them if they’re not going to do anything about them is beyond me.”

“Code?” Shizuo asked. Maybe it was time to do a brush up on the Agency’s member manual. Izaya kept talking about things that sounded important, but Shizuo didn’t know what they meant. Sure, he had gone through the same training, but he had really only learned the basics. Doing the necessary check, Shizuo turned on his glasses. Immediately, data appeared in his readings—courtesy of Izaya—and Shizuo blinked.

Staring at him was the picture of Karellen Fenlon.

* * *

Grewal could hear his heart pounding in his windpipe, and a full-on heart attack only felt like it was seconds away. He tried to suck in a few breaths, but they only came out raspy. She knew his name. Somehow, she had found out his name—he was listed as a pseudonym in even the _convention_ registry, and she _still_ had called him by his first name, like it was natural.

Hesitantly, Grewal focused back into his interface, and the images sharpened. His target was still displayed there, along with what was supposed to be her current readings. He looked back to the girl on the bed. They were the same, identical. Then again, there was always the chance that it was just another illusion. Given what he had experienced in the hallway, Grewal wouldn’t have doubted it.

“No, no, you’ve got it all wrong,” Karellen commented. She set her sketchbook aside, but Grewal didn’t bother to decipher the sketched out lines. “While that’s an interesting theory, the person you see before you is exactly who it looks like. Using illusions to disguise myself is not only risky, but kind of like cheating. Besides, I just wanted to enjoy myself, not get caught up in anything big.”

Grewal didn’t say anything. What could he say? This was all over his head. Training had never covered this, and even his old mentor hadn’t told him what to do if one of the real threats ever appeared in the field. She didn’t even have that high of a Chaos reading, so he doubted that his Neutralizer would do any good.

“Ah, it’s a shame you found me out, though,” Karellen continued, as if she knowingly talked to CMA agents every day. “All I wanted was a nice relaxing weekend with my family, you know?”

“Wh-who are you?” Grewal managed. He didn’t even care if he had stuttered. “A-and I mean _really_. Just what in the hell are you?”

“Oh?” Karellen tilted her head. “Don’t you have all sorts of data on me already?” She tapped the side of her own glasses with a smile on her face. “Well, I guess since you asked semi-nicely, I can tell you a bit. Even if I keep my mouth shut, my vacation’s over anyway.”

Clearing her throat, Karellen Fenlon stood up. She stepped forward, closing the distance between them. “Well, most of the time I’d say I’m a writer. As of right now, my occupation could be marked as student… Oh, and I’m eighteen-years-old, though I’m sure you already knew that.

“Sometimes I consider myself to be an artist, other times a writer. Maybe even a singer if I feel like it. Though, really, I’m not good enough to be any of those.” Karellen let out a soft laugh, and Grewal shuddered. “I’m clearly an anime and manga fan if I’m here, and I guess I have enough of an interest in Norse Mythology to call it a tiny bit more than a hobby.”

It was unfair. She was right in front of him. If Grewal could have shaken off his internal terror to move, he could have touched her arm without much effort. She hadn’t taken his Neutralizer, so it would only take a twitch of the finger to set off the trigger. Something was stopping him, making the action impossible.

“Am…” Grewal said, surprised that even his mouth was still working. “Am I unable to move because of you?”

Karellen smiled, lightly tapping the fingers of one hand against the palm of the other. It didn’t make any sound, but her intention was clear. “Very good,” she said. “Most Agents wouldn’t be able to figure that out after just one encounter. I’m surprised the higher-ups even let that sort of information slip all the way down to someone like you.”

Briefly, Grewal’s mind flashed to his mentor, but he kept his mouth shut.

“Then again,” Karellen continued, “I guess the information is there for anyone that wants to look for it. Not that many people do.” She shrugged. “I can give you a little hint, though, even if you won’t be able to use it in enough time to be useful.”

The girl smiled at him again, only interrupted by the movement of her lips. “Online I am known as Yggdrasil,” she said. “Otherwise marked in the Agency’s target system as code number BUN 369…”

* * *

“…HV1AN731.” Reacting to Izaya’s voice, Shizuo’s Interface Sunglasses immediately reacted. One lens still displayed Karellen Fenlon, but the other was accessing data menus that Shizuo couldn’t even attempt to recognize as they flashed past. Eventually, the blonde just closed his eyes and waited until the soft ping from his earpiece that let him know his—rather, Izaya’s—request had been completed.

It wasn’t like Shizuo had memorized all the menus in the CMA’s computers, because that would have just been a pain in the ass. However, he could at least recognize the ones necessary to his job, and this wasn’t any of them.

Gathered together was a list of what he guessed were the codes Izaya had mentioned, and all of them started with three letters: _BUN_.

“Just what the hell have you gotten into, Flea?” Shizuo asked.

But the door to the room was closing, and Izaya was already gone.


	5. Irregularity

**Ragnarok**

By: Aviantei

5

Irregularity

* * *

Karellen knew she had precious few moments before Command noticed the irregularity. Hell, she’d already caught wind of the shouted order from outside the door—advanced hearing did wonders. As always, there were two Commanding officers. One of them had been smart enough to notice. They’d be on her soon enough.

Oliver, the Agent in front of her, stared in shock, unable to move. Karellen’s Reality Alter had taken care of that. With more time, she could have learned enough to do the same to the Command Agents. Without that being an option, she needed information.

Oliver’s glasses interface beeped once at the identification code, then beeped twice to indicate there had been an error in access.

“‘Security access level not authenticated’…” he whispered. Karellen had expected as much. “Why do you know higher level access codes? You’re not a rogue, are you?”

Karellen snorted, shifting her glasses askew. She pushed them back up on her face, resting her hands on her hips. “Goodness, no. I _just_ turned eighteen, mind you. The CMA wouldn’t have hired me even as a brat.” She could see Oliver’s nerves increase from her knowledge of their application protocol. She smiled. “Every organization has some well-informed opposition to it. That’s just how stories work. Haven’t you ever thought that before?”

Oliver grimaced. “I…”

The girl feigned a gasp, bringing a hand to her mouth to seal the image. “Oh dear. A CMA Agent indulging in acts of unnecessary imagination. That’s the sign of a troublemaker right there. How have you not lost your certification yet?”

Oliver remained silent. Her Reality Alter still allowed his expressions to shift, and guilt crossed his features.

She was playing with him. Karellen knew she didn’t have time for that. She snapped her fingers, reclaiming her focus. Following the action, a hard tone entered her voice. “Apologies, but I don’t have time for games,” she said. Oliver looked frightened enough. “You don’t know my code name and you don’t know my registration number. My Chaos rating currently levels at twenty-two to your sensors. And yet you targeted me. Why? Did someone in Command single me out?”

The Agent flicked his eyes across the room. He didn’t know how much she knew. More than enough to know his activity was unusual. Silence held. No one had reacted to the door getting kicked in, and no one had appeared to notice it either.

“You were in range and alone,” Oliver answered. “I caught your position and Command approved it. Nothing more.”

Karellen crossed her arms, tapping her pencil to her side. Pure coincidence. What an annoying set of circumstances. If she had held her position downstairs a bit longer, or maybe even had taken less time to attempt the audio Reality Alter, she could have avoided the circumstances.

“So a matter of convenience then,” she surmised. Oliver didn’t deny it. “How sloppy.” This unit of Command took a different approach to things than before. A difference in Agents made all the difference, and she had been caught off guard by a change of circumstances. Her remark held just as true to them as it did to her. She beamed at her captive in appreciation, but appeared to just unnerve him further. “Well thank you for your hard work Oliver. I think it’d be best if you rested now.”

In the opposite hand to her pencil, Karellen crumpled the piece of paper she was still holding onto.

Oliver watched her until his eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed to the floor, his Neutralizer sliding across the carpet.

Shizuo crammed his still lit cigarette into his ashtray and took off after Izaya. He caught a glimpse of the brunette taking the route back to the stairwell and followed, the door shutting on its own behind him. Shizuo had spent his young adult life on chasing Izaya around, and he couldn’t lose track of him in such a closed space as a hotel. The blonde was on the other man’s heels in seconds, footsteps booming behind him.

At this rate, they’d get a noise complaint. If they were on a con floor, they already would have received a warning, if not had their badges stripped. But Izaya had taken off without a solid word, so he must have deemed Shizuo’s reaction as worth the risk.

Shizuo hated how much he understood the Flea now, but this wasn’t the time to focus on that.

He jerked three fingers over the microphone on his neck, opening up the private communication channel Izaya had set up between the two of them. There had never been a reason to use it before, but shouting would attract too much attention on top of the ruckus they’d started. This, at the very least, seemed important enough to keep quiet.

“Talk to me, Flea,” Shizuo huffed out as he rounded up the stairs. Izaya passed the third floor and kept heading up. “What the hell are we doing?”

_“Do I look like a walking information desk to you?”_ Izaya’s breathy voice spoke through his speaker.

“No, you look like a running jackass.” Shizuo took the steps four at a time, managing to catch up just as Izaya burst out of the stairwell and into the hall. Without hesitating, the brunette took off down the hall and rounded another corner.

_“If you can’t read and run at the same time, then shut up.”_

Shizuo growled as Izaya shut down the private channel. He’d been focusing on running forward, but he glanced at his lenses. Karellen Fenlon’s profile came back into focus with his gaze. Some shit about reading his retina signals. Shizuo didn’t care, trying to figure out what the hell the Flea was talking about based on the girl’s file.

He saw nothing.

“Smells like _shit_.”

Not in the mood to deal with it, Shizuo tore of his sunglasses and shoved them into his pocket. He followed Izaya’s trail, finding him heading towards a door stuck open. In front of it stood one of their own—Shizuo could hardly remember the Agents real names, let alone their false ones for missions—but Izaya paid him no need and ran straight through the boy.

_That_ wasn’t normal, even for their field. Whatever was going on, it had to do with Chaos. And Izaya hadn’t been surprised by it at all.

Shizuo reached for his Neutralizer and charged inside.

* * *

Izaya had to give it to the girl: she handled being put at gunpoint better than most people would. The weapon was just a Neutralizer, but it hadn’t been tagged with the convention’s regulatory orange tape yet, and otherwise looked very realistic. Karellen Fenlon looked Izaya over once, her mouth parting slightly.

Then Shizuo thundered into the room and she went straight-up slack jawed.

“_This_ is what you’ve been running me around for?” the blonde growled, grating away at Izaya’s already thin patience. If it weren’t for the BUN level target in front of him, Izaya might have started a fight just to get the protozoan to shut up. “Would a word of warning hurt you so much?”

“Shut up, Shizu-chan,” Izaya warned, his cheerful pretense gone. Karellen Fenlon regained enough control to close her mouth, then burst into giggles.

“‘Awesomely fantastical’ is right…” she muttered.

Izaya stepped closer, taking care not to step on the downed Agent between him and the girl. Judging by the positions in the room, Shizuo wouldn’t be able to see Grewal thanks to the hotel bed. Izaya kept his Neutralizer aimed at her head. With the brain as the key source of imagination, shots there were more effective, plus it upheld the right atmosphere. “Not another word unless it’s answering a question,” he threatened.

The girl tilted her head and said, “You can’t hurt me with that.” Well, following orders didn’t seem to be on her agenda. Izaya would have granted himself more time to be fascinated if the situation wasn’t so dire. “And I mean, you can’t _do_ anything to me with that. It doesn’t have the capacity to Neutralize my levels. Don’t even bother, Orihara-san.”

“I don’t wanna be rude, but you should listen up if you know what’s good for you,” Shizuo said, inching further into the room. It wasn’t quite tactful, but he was the closest thing to a good cop that they had. “I don’t know what sort of threat you are, but things will go best for everyone if you just follow along.”

“And things will go best for you if you talk to me like a person instead of a criminal,” Karellen retorted. Her assessment of the Neutralizer’s effect was correct. Even though her data still read at 22, the illusion outside and the unconscious state of Grewal proved otherwise. “Unless you want to cause a ruckus, I recommend you close the door, Heiwajima-san.”

Shizuo glanced to Izaya. The girl spoke with clarity and calmness, just too much to be a bluff. She did have something up her sleeve. Her BUN status indicated she had a potential for Chaos Manipulation. If something like that unleashed at a high level, HQ would be notified, but they wouldn’t have time to prevent the damage.

_Just like when we were brought—_

“Go ahead,” Izaya allowed. Shizuo backed to the door, but stopped at “Wait.” Izaya looked Karellen Fenlon over. Unassuming, dressed a bit more proper than the usual nerd fare, and looking a bit younger than her actual age. Both her fists her clenched, holding onto something, the tip of a pencil poking out of one. “Drop the writing tools and maybe we’ll talk.”

Karellen smiled, opened both of her palms, and let the pencil and a crumbled piece of paper fall to the bed she stood closest to. “You’ve done your homework. Just what I expected from Orihara-san.”

Izaya ground his teeth and kept his Neutralizer aloft. “Shizu-chan, close the door.”

Shizuo did as told, and even flicked the extra lock for good measure. Good, he understood how troublesome their situation was. Karellen hopped onto the mattress (opposite of her tools, in a show of good faith) and sat in waiting. Izaya took the seat across from her. Shizuo moved to pull the chair away from the desk on the far side of the room, but shouted when he saw Grewal collapsed on the ground.

“I didn’t kill him, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Karellen said with an air of playground innocence.

“He’s just sleeping, Shizu-chan, sit down,” Izaya added. He placed his hands in his pockets; one still held his Neutralizer to be drawn, the other fingered one of his flickblades. The Agency didn’t much approve of them, but Izaya was sure he could get away with claiming special circumstances. Noticing his stance, Shizuo brought over his chair and sat down, his shoulders tensing. “You know plenty about us it seems, so I’ll skip over the details on that front. You should be aware of your situation as well.”

Karellen smoothed out the creases in her jeans with a nod. Shizuo grumbled for being left out, his irritation spiking the words up to a growl. Grewal rested on the floor, not even giving a twitch. “I never thought I’d be able to say I’ve held more information than Orihara Izaya, but I guess there’s a first time for everything,” the girl said.

“You keep calling us that,” Shizuo interrupted before Izaya could make a similar remark. “We’re just cosplayers. You’re not gonna ask for our real names? We know yours, after all.” Not that Shizuo’s meager retention skills would let him recall it.

Karellen laughed again. Shizuo hadn’t been amused the first time, and Izaya was losing his patience. He had made sure to disarm the girl of her writing utensils, but that only meant so much in Chaos manipulation. She couldn’t create any new distortions, but preexisting altercations were another matter. Even with all of the Agency’s technology, tracking Chaos manipulation trails was beyond them.

_This is what they get for ignoring their own data trails…_

“I don’t mean to brag, but I am a big fan, you know.” Karellen crossed her legs and propped her weight back on her arms. “I have quite the number of stories in your fandom, after all. I’d recognize you guys on sight.” Regardless, she was taking the revelation pretty well. “Well, I’d heard rumors, but I didn’t think it was true. But you guys are the real deal.”

Shizuo looked to Izaya, as if trying to figure out how to deny it. There wasn’t a point. Izaya picked up Karellen’s pencil and twirled it between his fingers. “Let’s start there,” he said. Behind her glasses, the girl traced his movements. “You were Neutralized at an Ohio convention six months ago, after your Chaos Levels were determined to be a higher threat by the Agency. Several members of mission Command were sent to deal with you and your friends. With a high level Neutralization like that, you should have experienced a memory gap.”

Karellen shifted to rest her cheek to her fist. “You sure are confident in the Agency, ain’t ya?” she taunted. “I’d think you’d be much more cautious of a group of liars like that, Orihara-san.”

“Izaya is fine, Karellen-chan.”

The girl snorted. “Fine by me.”

“Hold up,” Shizuo said. Izaya sighed. Was it really so hard to shut up and read a file? Given who he was talking about, that was a dumb question. “So this girl was a target before, one big enough to force the involvement of Command?”

“She’s sitting right in front of you. What does that tell you, Shizu-chan?”

Shizuo’s eye twitched, and he reached for the pack of cigarettes in his pocket before remembering where he was.

“I’ve been thinking of fanfictions since I was eight-years-old,” Karellen explained, acting in a much kinder capacity. Compared to the slight urge to rush inside Izaya, she seemed much more confident in her position. Whatever ace in the hole she was hiding, Izaya needed to expose it fast. “In the ten years since then, I’ve expressed a fair share of unchecked creative energy. You can imagine the distortive energy that can result in, can’t you, Heiwajima-san?”

Her smile and lack of fear must’ve disarmed him. Shizuo looked away and mumbled, “Yeah, I guess.”

“I had no idea the CMA existed until six months ago, or the effects that my active imagination could have on reality,” she continued. Karellen pulled off her glasses and started to wipe them off with the corner of her shirt. “My friends and I held high enough Chaos levels to be targeted, but an Agent broke protocol and talked to us. It turned into a conflict, and we staged our Neutralization to avoid further incident.” She locked eyes with Izaya. “Is that a fair enough summary of events to you?”

Izaya shrugged, balancing her pen across his fingers as if it were a knife. “I’d say you gained a high level of mastery with your abilities for such a short time being aware of them, Karellen-chan.”

She broke eye contact with the familiar address. _A big fan, huh? Must be star struck._ “We don’t have time to discuss that right now,” she deflected.

“What do you mean?” Shizuo asked. Leaning forward in the chair, his hulking presence became all the more obvious. Izaya couldn’t be intimidated by such posturing, but Karellen looked to be losing her nerve. “We’re in Command. There’s not any bigger threat to you than us.” Poor wording, but it held true.

Karellen rounded on the blonde, her face screwed up in indignation. “You really think that HQ just lets you two run around without any supervision? You’re the key to their influence loop. They’re not just going to let you do whatever you please.” She pointed a finger to the bed across from her. “Tell him, Izaya.”

“That’s pretty presumptuous calling me without an honorific, Karellen-chan,” the brunette returned, keeping his interest hidden under a mask of mock hurt. He had left the room without his own glasses, and thus didn’t have a workable interface to check with. If the girl was right, that meant they could be bugged.

“You don’t know either,” Karellen concluded, crossing her arms. “I’d have thought you would have noticed right away. Doesn’t this whole Chaos/Purity dynamic feel a little too Sunday morning Shonen Jump to you? I’d have thought you’d doubt such a black and white philosophy.”

Izaya shot a glare towards her, piecing together her words. Yes, he had doubted that things were so simple, but he had seen Chaos and Purity effects in action. There was no doubt that a surge of Chaos had opened the rift to their world. He had even scoured through the CMA’s data to make sure there weren’t any hidden pockets in the past year and had only found monotonous research reports. If those hundreds of well-paid researchers so much as sneezed, Izaya knew about it.

“You did well to dig up the BUN coding system, Izaya, but that wasn’t enough.” If he didn’t know better, Izaya would say she was failing on honorifics just to mock him. “The CMA is managing Chaos, but not in the way you’d expect. In fact, the way they present reality influence to you is a nice set up to keep its agents pacified and working towards their goal. I’m sad to say that you two are no different.”

“Get to the point,” Shizuo growled. His tension had faded for a bit, but the set of his shoulders set off even Izaya’s instincts. They’d be ending up with a chair through the hotel wall soon at this rate. “Cause it sounds to me like you’re making shit up to save your own ass.”

Karellen scooted across the bed, putting more distance between her and Shizuo, though she must’ve known it wouldn’t do her much good in the end. “What I’m _saying_,” she stressed, looking to Grewal’s unconscious form on the ground, “is that the CMA has the ability to send you home, but they’re keeping you here to force the imbalance between dimensions.”

“What?” Even Izaya couldn’t criticize Shizuo for that response. Karellen took a deep breath and sat up straight, maintaining eye contact between the two men as best she could.

“They have no intention of sending you home because they’re the ones that brought you here in the first place.”


	6. Proof

**Ragnarok**

By: Aviantei

6

Proof

* * *

Karellen stayed silent, waiting for the information to sink in. Izaya and Shizuo both took to the news with different expressions, but neither said a word. Shizuo held onto a twisted confusion and Izaya swapped to thoughtful, cupping his chin in his hand.

Karellen left them to their devices, trying to calm the pulse sending a nonstop bpm across her throat.

Yes, she had heard rumors. The Agent that had contacted her six months ago had breached protocol in doing so, but she had explained what was happening, showed Karellen how to access the CMAs information systems. The girl had been too dazed at the time to argue. When all was said and done, she and her friends had slipped off the radar and returned to their ordinary lives.

Curiosity had gotten the better of Karellen, and she hadn’t been able to let it go. Even with the Reality Alter, there was a chance of becoming a target again. At the very least, she had wanted to know what was going on. So she had dug into the CMA further, learned what she needed to, and kept under the radar whenever she went into a likely target area.

_Like this convention._

Rumors of Agents from another world spread, but were snuffed out by the CMA’s warnings against active imagination. They pointed to a deeper ridge within the system, but Karellen had only half believed. Even if she had been pulled into a fantasy world six months ago, the chances of reaching another reality had seemed far away.

And yet there they were. Orihara Izaya and Heiwajima Shizuo. In the flesh.

It was different to witness them in two dimensions instead of three. You could easily attribute the similarities to a well-done cosplayer, and that would have been that. But it was in the exact details: their heights when standing, the shape and shade of Izaya’s eyes, the faint trace of brown roots peeking at the bottom of Shizuo’s hair. Even when sitting, they both radiated a presence that was undeniable.

Her awareness of their lack of adherence to Reality helped, too.

“What the hell kind of lie is that?” Shizuo asked, and Karellen’s fascination was replaced by an instinctual fear. Comparing her world to _Durarara!!_ held many similarities. In fact, the active presence of supernatural phenomenon was the biggest change. Other than that, Karellen hypothesized that Shizuo’s strength hadn’t been decreased in the dimensional transfer. The same applied for Izaya’s abilities. “You really expect us to believe something so obvious?”

Karellen grimaced, the danger she had in hitting her with proper force. Shizuo hadn’t stood, but she knew the speed that he could strike with, and she wouldn’t stand a chance. She reached to her pockets, but Izaya was still toying with her pencil, flicking it between his fingers.

“Easy Shizu-chan,” he said, bringing the blonde to a pause. Karellen couldn’t bring herself to relax. “When you consider the points, it does line up rather well. Not saying I’m convinced, but it is a possibility. Do you have any proof, Karellen-chan?”

Two pairs of eyes turned on her—both shades of brown, both very different—and Karellen willed herself to have a burst of confidence. She could try at the very least. “Do either of you have your Communications Terminal on you? That’s probably the quickest.”

Izaya shrugged and pointed the pencil at Shizuo. The other man reached to the lapel of his suit and unfolded his sunglasses. Izaya groped his hand in a clear “give me” gesture, and soon sported Shizuo’s glasses on his face. Karellen could hear the fangirls in perfect clarity.

“I suspect you wormed your way into a hidden data access,” Izaya guessed. He was right. “Ah. Then after that, you pulled yourself into some restricted data. You know, I dug around through the whole server, and didn’t find anything that exciting. Makes me wonder why you could see it.”

“Because you _couldn’t_ see it.” Karellen looked between the two, then glanced at the clock on the bedside table. How much longer did she have before the CMA noticed an unusual activity pattern? Mow much longer before her father and Elijah decided to come back upstairs? She had to make this quick. “With a Reality Alter in place, you could be kept away easily. Your perception would be changed so that no matter what you scanned, even if your computer recognized it, your mentality wouldn’t be able to see the results.”

“Reality Alter, huh?” Izaya rolled the words across his tongue without the faintest trace of an accent. “How does that differ from the Chaos Influence Phenomenon?”

If he was trying to use technical terms just to throw her off, then she wasn’t about to let him won. “It differs because CIP is self-serving bullshit.” Shizuo blinked at the curse word dropping from her mouth, but Izaya didn’t even flinch. “CIP infers there’s enough of a will to create a change in just a Fantasy Desire, which there isn’t. A Reality Alter is what the CMA wants you to think CIP does passively, but is instead an active execution of manipulation phenomenon that someone with high enough imagination can place on top of their reality.”

Shizuo huffed. “In English?”

Karellen had gotten so caught up in explaining the theory to Izaya, she had forgotten who she really needed to convince. Making sure to smile again, she addressed the blonde. “Changes to Reality that your Agency says can be made by large gatherings of Chaos can only be caused by people with high enough imagination making an intentional attempt?” she tried.

“Karellen-chan is enough of a nerd that she can cause changes in Reality. Chaos on its own does not,” Izaya summarized in her stead.

Shizuo scratched his head, shrugged, and leaned back in his chair. “Whatever. Does that mean we can trust her?”

“Ah, that’s the next question.” Izaya waved a ring-clad finger in the air before tapping it to the sunglasses. “Depends on what she can show me. I hope it’s impressive.”

“BUN 369-HV1AN731,” Karellen recited. She didn’t know what menu Izaya had been viewing beforehand, but the interface should have pulled up her target file in response. Unlike Oliver’s Com Terminal, this one did not protest to her code. “At the current moment, my Chaos reading holds steady at level 22. This is the number I chose to project into the system—a reasonable increase since my false total Neutralization six months ago. But with a little fluctuation…”

Karellen held open her left palm and traced numbers into it with her right: _36_. There was a beat, and her Reality Alter pulsed towards Izaya. “Ah,” he observed. “Clever.” Shizuo raised his eyebrow. “She’s able to project false data. Kind of like our imaginary Agent guarding the doorstep. She just changed her Chaos ranking in the system.”

Shizuo frowned. “Doesn’t that mean she’s dangerous?” Karellen wanted to scream. Who would have thought Heiwajima Shizuo would be such a tough sell?

“I don’t _want_ to do anything dangerous,” she protested. Shizuo didn’t look convinced. Izaya just looked amused, grinning a bit. “What I’m saying is I can accomplish that without any effort. Hiding data and opening up dimensional rifts is easy when what you call Chaos is gathered up in large amounts and focused.”

“I see, I see,” Izaya mused. He tapped the pencil against Shizuo’s sunglasses, but didn’t move to take them off. “So you’re proposing that the higher-ups have enough Chaos to perform a Reality Alter that not only hides their secrets but brought my poor and Shizu-chan’s protozoan self here.”

“Exactly right.”

“Now, what would be the benefit to that?”

Karellen faltered. She had theories, but she couldn’t say for sure. The Agent that had helped her discover these things had long been discharged, and whoever was pulling the strings at the CMA had been smart enough to keep their true intentions out of easily accessible data. Karellen had learned a lot about using Reality Alter, but she couldn’t do much on her own against another, more experienced set of users.

“You don’t know then.” Izaya flicked the pencil at her, the eraser end jabbing Karellen in the stomach. It hurt more than expected, but she pushed past that to grip the pencil in her hands. She didn’t have any accessible paper on person, but there was a nearby hotel notepad that could be used in a pinch. It would at least buy her a distraction if she really needed it.

“I’ll admit I don’t—” another growl from Shizuo; Karellen flinched “—but you don’t know everything, either. I think we should make a deal.” She rushed on before Izaya could (and would) poke holes in her argument. “I don’t want to be targeted by the CMA anymore, and you want to go home. If we worked together, I think my friends and I could make that happen.” Karellen pushed a hand to her chest. “You’ve seen what I can do, and they’re BUN targets just like me. With the three of us together, we might be able to open a rift big enough to send you back. That’s why you’re working with the CMA, right?”

Karellen hoped she was right. As it stood, the CMA had employed Izaya and Shizuo to keep them in high Chaos areas, where maintaining their presence through Reality Alter was easier. But given their strength, not even the Agency could force them to join. They had to have been convinced.

_Now can I convince them otherwise?_

“I dunno,” Shizuo drawled, scratching his head. “The Agency said they hadn’t figured out how to send us home yet. Sure, what you say makes them fishy, but you’re just as fishy, kid.” Karellen tried not to let the dismissal of one of her favorite characters get to her. Shizuo may not have been renowned for his logic, but in this case it was sound.

Karellen turned to Izaya. Her fate in the current moment rested with him. She didn’t know what to think of those odds. “And what do you think?”

“I think you need to sweeten the deal for us even if you are lying,” he proposed. “I’m more inclined to believe you than Shizu-chan here, but that’s mostly because I think it’s more interesting.” Karellen felt a pressure of dread in her chest even as hope blossomed in the back of her brain. “So if you’re lying and the Agency is on our side, what sort of guarantee can you make that you won’t cause trouble for us?”

“I…” There was one method that Karellen could think of, even if she hadn’t practiced it before. Not her heaviest bargaining chip, but it was the most meaningful. “I’ll put you in charge of my Reality Alter. If you don’t give me permission, I won’t be able to enact it. You won’t be able to force me to do anything I don’t want to, though. If I’m just leading you on a goose chase, you’ll have an incapacitated target to turn into HQ.”

Izaya smirked. “I’m listening.”

Progress. Good. But Karellen couldn’t let out a sigh of relief just yet. “I’ll tie it to the two of you. You won’t need a unanimous decision to give me permission, but that way I’m not completely locked in. Is that acceptable?”

“What me?” Shizuo asked.

“You’re the one with the most doubts, Heiwajima-san.”

“And he’ll hardly ever do anything with it otherwise,” Izaya added. “I don’t particularly care for the Agency’s mission, so as long as you can send me home, I’m okay with that. Oh, but if you want to leave Shizu-chan here, that’s fine. But I guess that doesn’t matter without the contract. What do we need to do?”

In the midst of Shizuo’s retort and her own shock, it took Karellen a minute to realize Izaya had agreed to her terms. Orihara Izaya had taken her offer. It felt much more like a victory than it should have considering the long-term scope of things. Karellen shook the musings out of her head and pointed past the man.

“My bag’s over there. I have a bunch of notebooks. We just draw up a short contract, I infuse it with my Reality Alter, and we sign. The effects will take place on their own. But we should make it quick. We need to get moving so we have time to get to the others.”

“Oh, by all means!” Izaya had already dived across the other side of the bed, and the sharp call of a zipper signaled his digging through her belongings. Karellen knew she had several easily accessible notebooks, and he was snooping far more than necessary. The thought of making a contract seemed to excite him.

Shizuo rolled his chair forward, leaning over Oliver’s downed form, and checked the other Agent’s neck for a pulse. He seemed to be satisfied, but still ground his teeth. “What’d you do to the guy?”

Karellen jumped at the address. Izaya hummed to himself, tossing spare writing utensils onto the neat, hotel made bedspread. He wasn’t coming up for air anytime soon. “I enacted a Reality Alter to put him to sleep. I can wake him up manually, but he will come to on his own eventually.”

“Huh. Dangerous ability you’ve got there.”

“It’s only dangerous depending on the intent.”

“Here we go!” Izaya sang, emerging with a basic school notebook. He set it in his lap, juggling a few pens and pencils before settling on one with red ink. “I think this is going to be great fun, don’t you, Shizu-chan?”

“Don’t be stupid, Flea.”

“Hello? Time constraints?” Karellen asserted. Izaya shrugged like that wasn’t his problem—even though it was—and flipped open the book to start writing. “It doesn’t have to be anything complicated. Just that I’m incapable of executing a Reality Alter without the permission of either of you. I guess you can toss in other conditions if you like. From there we can pack up and move out.” Oliver hadn’t set off a high level alert to HQ, had he? Based on their behavior, she didn’t think Izaya or Shizuo had, either, but it was hard to tell. There was a chance the Agency would know otherwise, anyway.

“Oh, so something like this?” Izaya beamed, tearing out the notebook page and holding it up. Red ink covered the page in neat kanji, hiragana, and katakana. Karellen could recognize the characters for both men’s names, plus her own written out in blocky Roman characters. A few stray words caught her interest, but she didn’t have enough time to even begin to pick apart the context clues. “I think it’s great, don’t you, Shizu-chan?”

Shizuo squinted at the words, but Izaya passed the paper on before the blonde could get a chance to read it. Karellen frowned at the foreign script in her hands. She had planned to let Izaya write the contract so there wouldn’t be any doubts against her, but this was unexpected. He could have written something into it she hadn’t expected, and Karellen would be none the wiser. Letting Shizuo draw up the contract would have been a better option.

Izaya launched the pen at her next, this one landing in her lap. “Now, no pencil on that thing. Can’t have you erasing things and nullifying my hard work, now can we?”

There wasn’t enough time or leeway to demand a rewrite. Karellen scanned the words again, deciphering enough characters to know that it, at the very least, was about her Reality Alter ability. Getting backed into a corner was natural given the circumstances. Her worry over the CMA overpowering her trepidation for the contract, Karellen used her free palm as a back board and scribbled her signature onto the paper while channeling her Reality Alter. The distortion warped around her, but nothing big changed.

_I don’t…feel any different. But my power isn’t going anywhere._

“Oh, you actually signed it,” Izaya said in apparent awe. Karellen didn’t have the energy to tell if he was being sarcastic or not. “Well, that satisfies me.” He swiped up the contract, folding it and stowing the paper in his pocket. “If you want to take us to your friends, I’m all game. Shizu-chan, too, I’m sure.”

Shizuo’s expression remained unimpressed. “Well I don’t trust either of you, but it’s better than doing nothing.”

“Not one for the power of friendship, huh? Guess that makes sense, since you’ve never had any friends.”

“Turn off the smoke alarm so I can light a cigarette or I’m throwing you out the damn window.”

“Aye, aye!” Izaya hopped to stand on the bed, looking around for the mentioned alarm. Karellen wasn’t a fan of smoke, but it was better than causing a scene. “While Shizu-chan gets his nasty nicotine fix, do you need to contact your friends, Karellen-chan? Let’s get this show on the road!”

Karellen sighed and stood, trying to navigate around Izaya to get to her belongings. “What I need is to set up a Reality Alter so my family doesn’t know I’m missing, plus get us some untraceable transportation.” Dodging the brunette man’s bouncing, she retrieved a notebook and moved to sit back down. “Permission to execute?”

“Under those parameters, yes.”

A slight pressure in the back of Karellen’s head faded, and the Reality Alter reopened. Trying to keep track of what supplies she needed, Karellen started to draft out the execution. Izaya hopped from one bed to the other, then to the couch for the sake of his target. Shizuo worked on pulling Oliver into a sitting position, the Agent’s head slumping once he was upright.

Karellen needed to be able to leave without her father and brother noticing, plus they would need vehicles and tickets. Beyond that, she needed to make sure her mothers weren’t home when she got there, Izaya and Shizuo in tow. In comparison, a few coordinated phone calls would be easy. She was about to finish her words and put the Reality Alter into practice, but stopped at the sound of a click.

The hotel room’s door had unlocked, and her family were the only ones that could be on the other end. 


	7. Flight

**Ragnarok**

By: Aviantei

7

Flight

* * *

Karellen jumped up and flew towards the door faster than Shizuo had expected. The blonde had made sure to flick the deadbolt when he had shut the door, but that could only do so much when the knob had busted. Still, the electronic lock responded to the keycard, and Karellen pressed her weight against the door to keep it shut.

“Hold on!” she called loud enough to be heard on the other side. “I forgot to grab something for my shower. Gimme a minute and I’ll _get in the bathroom_.”

The message wasn’t lost on the men and both of them moved. Izaya retrieved the fallen notebook and pen, leaving Shizuo with their unconscious coworker to transport. Picking him up took roughly the same effort as a child tossing about a ragdoll, though Shizuo did take more care than that. Once the CMA Agents were inside, Karellen flicked open the lock, rushed inside, shut the bathroom door behind them, and yanked her writing supplies from Izaya.

“Permission to fix the door,” she hissed.

“Go ahead,” Shizuo allowed, and the girl let out a sigh of relief. Their fellow agent was set once more on the ground, though this time he remained face up. Keeping up with Karellen’s charade, Izaya started running the shower, and the muffled sounds of her family members chatting floated in the air as they entered the room. Fixing the door must’ve been a success, though Karellen had only written a few words and shut her eyes for a minute.

Izaya hopped up to sit beside the sink. In the mirror, they looked ridiculous: two cosplayers and a teenage girl. The downed Agent didn’t even make it in the shot. Izaya kicked his legs back and forth, and Shizuo moved out of range. “Well, this is a tight situation,” the brunette mused, keeping his voice quiet. The shower lacked any real water pressure, and could only do so much to cover their conversation. “Trapped in the bathroom with three boys. How will you explain yourself?”

Karellen rolled her eyes, not even bothered to be flustered. “I guess I’m adding ‘make a clean escape’ to my permissions requests,” she said, already adding more words to the page.

“Denied. Try that wording again.”

“Leave without being noticed,” Karellen corrected but didn’t stop writing.

“You pass.”

Shizuo didn’t have much more to add to exchange. Izaya seemed to be playing word games and eliminating loopholes. If the blonde thought about it, this whole permissions system could get tricky. Not that he wanted to be involved with it in the first place, but it was better than letting Izaya control all the strings, at least.

_What a pain._

Karellen continued writing, drawing red lines across otherwise white and clean paper. She didn’t seem to be doing anything special, but the illusion agent plus the lack of a commotion about the broken into door said otherwise. Since Shizuo’s own presence was the result of a dimensional jump, he couldn’t say much to discount it, though. That didn’t mean he trusted the results.

_This whole thing’s smelled like shit, but here we are._

With finality, Karellen punctuated her sentence and slipped her pen into the notebook spiral. She stepped towards the toilet, closed the lid, and took a seat, once again closing her eyes. It would have been interesting if the whole thing didn’t seem so ridiculous.

“Hey,” Shizuo whispered to Izaya, “what’s she doing?”

“Beats me,” the brunette replied, watching the girl like a hawk. It would’ve taken more than a year for Shizuo to dismiss the action. “I guess it’s her Reality Alter, but I have no idea how it works. Even with the BUN coding system, the version of the files I accessed only mentioned them as targets with a former Chaos level in the two-hundreds.”

Shizuo’s surprise at the number took a backseat to the other fact in Izaya’s words. “Huh, so you can admit that you don’t know everything.”

Izaya’s stance tensed, his eyes narrowing to sharp brown slits. Even while looking casual, he had been keeping his weapons close at hand. He was by no means at ease, but Shizuo couldn’t bother to be intimidated. “I don’t know everything because there’s so many possibilities in human behavior.”

“Sounds like a load of bull to me.”

“Quiet, _please_,” Karellen interrupted from the toilet. Her eyes stayed shut as she gripped the notebook in her hands. “I’m shifting a lot of parameters here. Concentration helps me speed it up.”

Both men fell silent, though Izaya did try to catch Shizuo’s attention with hand gestures. When there was no response, he settled for poking at the downed Agent with the toe of his dress shoe. Shizuo leaned against a towel hanger, wishing for a cigarette. With luck, Karellen’s travel plan would involve leaving the hotel sooner than later.

“Okay, that should do it,” she announced after a couple of minutes. Karellen stood, and Izaya held out his hand for the notebook. After a moment, the girl relented the pages, but tucked the pen into her pocket. “I put my family to sleep like Oliver here, though they’ll wake up in a few hours. They won’t make a fuss over me missing, though, so we should get moving.”

“Yes, I see that,” Izaya said, scanning over her words. “So then you write out a scenario, then consciously force it onto reality? I never thought it would be something so simple.”

Karellen shut off the shower before heading to the door. Shizuo got to work on hoisting the downed agent—Oliver was really his name?—over his shoulder. “That’s the easiest way to enact _my_ Alter at the very least.” The girl stepped into the main room, Izaya on her heels.

“So your friends are different, then?”

“Hey,” Shizuo called, following when he had the chance. On each of the hotel beds rested a person, one older man and a teenage boy. Karellen’s brother and father, he guessed. “What are we gonna do with this guy in the meantime?”

Izaya looked back to Oliver, humming. “I suppose it would be a problem if your family woke up and found a stranger in place of you, wouldn’t it?”

Karellen had started shoving items into a side bag, colorful anime pins shining as the low light hit them. “We’re not taking him with us, if that’s what you’re asking,” she said, tone clipped. Shizuo hoped Oliver hadn’t done anything stupid while trying to Neutralize her. “He’d be too easy to trace. Can you drop him off in Command or something?”

“I don’t see why not,” Shizuo allowed. It looked like Karellen had packed her wallet and a few quick essentials, another notebook making its way into the pocket of her bag. Izaya was too busy trying to read and think at the same time to notice. Shizuo let it go. She couldn’t create any changes without their permission, so holding onto paper didn’t do her much good. “It’ll look weird to be carrying a guy like this around so early in the evening, though.” Drunkenness didn’t hold well as an excuse unless it was later on.

Izaya snapped his fingers. “An excellent observation, Shizu-chan!” He flapped the notebook in the air, its pages smacking into one another. Karellen closed up her bag and took the offer, pen clicking as she held it ready. “I’m granting permissions to transport Grewal here without drawing attention. Actually, I’ll even let you expand that range to getting us out of the hotel without being noticed.”

Karellen nodded, tapping the button end of the pen to the notebook a few times. “You got it,” she said, adding another set of words to the page.

* * *

Karellen sat in the front passenger seat of the car, trying to ignore the scent of smoke wafting up from behind her. Izaya seemed to be in the same conundrum, his window open wide, even in the muggy early evening air. Shizuo had to had smoked at least half a pack of the damn cigarettes by now, but he kept lighting them up, one after another. They even still had twenty minutes until they made it to the airport. Karellen rested her cheek against the rental car window, hoping for the smooth sensation of glass to soothe her.

She had been lucky. Everything she had needed to Alter so far had been within the bounds of reality so long as she stretched the circumstances in just the right ways. It released a lot of the potential strain on her, but executing so many maneuvers had been exhausting. The illusion of Oliver had been the riskiest strain of all, but she had gone through with it anyways.

Things would have been better if she had scared him off. That’s what Karellen’s aim had been anyway. Instead, she had been left to play cool and in control. It was the fact that she might not wake up for several hours that kept her from napping. At the very least, she needed to be conscious when boarding the plane.

Knowing that silence couldn’t help that cause, she glanced to the driver’s seat and said, “I didn’t know you had a license, Izaya.”

The brunette chuckled, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. His silver rings rested on each index finger. Karellen thought to ask if they were really to represent his sisters or were just a flashy fashion choice, but set it aside in favor of her active inquiry.

“That’s because I don’t,” he answered. “The Agency mostly pays for all sorts of flashy transportation for us. But I do know how to drive all sorts of things, just in case.”

“How very _Zaregoto_ of you.”

Izaya laughed again, this time less subtle. “Not many people Stateside have stuck their nose into those.”

“I consider myself lucky for the opportunity.”

“We just gonna chatter?” Shizuo said from the back. Even half a pack of cancer didn’t seem to brighten his mood. Karellen had hoped they would make him at least a bit more amicable. “I know you said all this is part of your Chaos levels, but I still don’t get it. If you can make all this happen, why not just poof us up instead of flying.”

“Because,” Karellen drawled, “I like keeping myself in workable shape, thank you.” Knowing the strongest man in Ikebukuro (and easily in several other locations, too) sat right behind her held its own level of danger, but having a notebook stowed away in her bag helped her feel better. More confident. Even if her Alters were limited. “Even if I do display a high level of distortive energy, it takes a lot of effort to manifest it into a change. I _can_ create something akin to teleportation, but it would wipe me right out, plus draw CMA attention.”

That was something the turncoat Agent six months ago had made clear to her. Every Reality Alter left a traceable pattern in its effects, readable in the Agency’s Chaos detection systems. Smaller Alters could be dismissed as a burst of stray imaginative energy gone wild, but the bigger ones looked out of place even in high concentration Chaos centers like conventions.

Izaya nodded in time to a song no one else could hear. “So we have a rental car, a paid for flight, and a longer drive ahead of us,” he summarized her Alter writings for Shizuo’s benefit. “The smaller ripples Karellen-chan lets off, the more time we’ll have until the CMA tracks us down for abandoning our mission. So kind she is to take that into consideration.”

Karellen tried not to let the praise get to her. “I considered it because that’s how I’ve gone so long without being traced.” Izaya was using flattery as a means to get her guard down. Karellen wouldn’t let it work.

It still felt good, though.

Shizuo’s knees pressed into the back of Karellen’s seat, pushing her forward a bit. The blonde didn’t have much room to stretch out and kept his seatbelt buckled in accordance to safety and the law. She could put up with a little discomfort for his sake. “Doesn’t that mean you’ll blow your cover when you send us back?”

Izaya kept his focus on the highway, sparing a quick glance to gauge Karellen’s reaction. She knew because she had been staring without meaning to. The girl adjusted her grip on her bag, clutching to the spine of the journal for comfort.

“Unfortunately, yes we will,” she said. Living out in such a population sparse area meant even small Reality Alters could draw attention. Something as big as opening a dimensional rift, even to return people to where they came from, would draw attention no matter what. It would also knock them all out for a few days, meaning her chances of a relaxing weekend before heading back to school were shot to hell. “We’ll be targeted by the CMA again, and clever Altering won’t be able to save us, no matter what we set up in advance. In the end, I think it’s more important for you two to go back home, though.”

“But why?” Shizuo pressed, tossing his cigarette out the window. Karellen watched its embers crash against the pavement in the rear view mirror. “Just ‘cause you’re a fan?”

A gentler guess than she had expected. It seemed Shizuo’s distrust wasn’t absolute. Even with that encouragement, it didn’t make for an easy question to answer.

“We’re the key to the influence loop,” Izaya spoke up, jarring Karellen’s thoughts and nerves in one fell swoop. “That’s what you said before, though those terms didn’t bring up any results in the database.”

Izaya had ditched the CMA enhanced sunglasses in their Command room at Karellen’s request to avoid tracking, but he had poked around a bit more beforehand. His multi-tasking ability went beyond just playing several chat room roles in tandem.

“It’s another hidden terminology,” Karellen breathed. Her words left fog across the windowpane, and she pulled back as the moisture faded. “I…don’t know too much about it. But the CMA brought you here, because they needed the resulting distortion. Keeping you here increases the distortion level exponentially. If we send you back, we’ll be able to delay that plan.”

“Which is?” Shizuo prompted. Karellen bit her lip. “Let me guess. You don’t know that, either.”

Karellen leaned around the edge of her seat to stare down the blonde man. “Look, there’s only so much I was able to learn in twenty-four hours before everything went to he—”

Izaya hit the brakes hard enough to jolt both Shizuo and Karellen in their seats, the girl almost knocking her head against the console. Shizuo fumbled to keep his cigarette from hitting the ground. The lit end was mushed in his palm, but the blonde didn’t so much as flinch.

“Now, now, children,” Izaya scolded, “we’re almost there, so can you keep your bickering down? You wouldn’t want to end up in a bad mood while flying. That never does anyone any good.”

Both parties fell silent. When they reached the parking garage, Karellen did her best not to slam the door, but failed as she stomped towards check in and boarding.

* * *

Izaya noted that neither Karellen nor Shizuo had calmed down by the time they finished boarding. Shizuo didn’t get along very well with airport security, and Karellen kept reaching for the phone she had left behind so as not to be tracked. While it couldn’t have been on purpose due to the limits on her Reality Alter, Shizuo had been seated a few rows forward, leaving the girl and the former informant tucked into a row side by side.

Izaya had too left his phone behind for the same reasons, but that didn’t mean he was as bored. For a late evening flight, plenty of passengers crowded the plane. Clusters of businessmen, a few families quieting their children, and even some solo tourists. Not an ideal sample pool, but he couldn’t argue with the capacity considering how last minute it had been. Izaya could say for certain he and Shizuo _didn’t_ have tickets to Ohio for this evening, but Karellen had procured the boarding passes nonetheless.

The girl had produced a fancy hardcover from her bag, reading to pass the time. She twitched every now and then, like she wanted to be writing instead. The spiral-bound notebook she had conducted her past few Alters on had been stowed in her bag as well to ease through security, but the pages hadn’t been touched since they left the hotel.

Not even bothering to indulge in the pretense of an accident, Izaya leaned over Karellen’s shoulder to check the topic of her reading and cast a shadow over the words.

“Norse mythology, huh?” he asked. Most passengers on the plane were silent, but muted conversations popped up on occasion. Izaya’s words blended right in. “Did you happen to get into that before or after you found _Durarara!!_?”

Karellen paused and furrowed her brow before tucking a bookmark into her place. She had to know better than to think Izaya would stop pestering her if he was in the right mood. “Before, though I appreciated the sentiment,” she answered. The Norse mythology text was shut and held in place on the girl’s lap. “I’m not completely convinced that a dullahan would be a form of Valkyrie, but I guess you never got to find out the answer to that one.”

“I did try, though, and that’s all that matters.” Even coming to this other world hadn’t given him the answer, but Izaya didn’t mind too much. That would have made things too easy if—_when_ now—he returned. Up close, the fatigue was impossible to miss in Karellen’s features. It was impressive she could keep her eyes open. “You, on the other hand, look like you’ll fall over if you try anything at all. Why don’t you get some shut eye?”

“And fall asleep next to you when Shizuo’s out of immediate range? I think I’ll pass.” For a fan, she had a sharp tongue to turn on him. The change of referral to Shizuo by his given name wasn’t lost on him, either. He guessed it was better than mindless gushing. “Besides, I won’t get up for several hours if I doze off. We only have two until we reach Columbus. I’ll sleep in the car.”

Izaya clicked his tongue in amusement. “But you still being asleep while I get access to your house doesn’t seem as dangerous?”

“Shizuo will be there to throw you into the hills if you even think of doing anything stupid,” Karellen stated, then flipped open her book again. “I’m sure you can play mental chess or shogi or whatever the hell you call that game board of yours on your own. Let me be.”

And she turned the page without another word. Izaya settled on the armrest and read the text over her shoulder.


	8. Wake

**Ragnarok**

By: Aviantei

8

Wake

* * *

Oliver Grewal woke up to the sounds of footsteps and moving heavy objects. His head throbbed the low rumble of a forming headache. Trying to grasp sight with his still bleary vision, he recognized a hotel room, though not the one he had fallen—asleep? Unconscious?—_unconscious_ in. Several different shirt colors swung through his peripheral, and the moment he tried to sit someone stepped aside to help him up.

“Clark, report,” they said, and it took Grewal a few moments to remember his codename for the operation. He tried to speak, but coughed instead. A few words passed around the people in the room, and one tossed a hotel provided bottle of water onto the bedspread. Understanding the unspoken order, Grewal unscrewed the cap and drank. “Both Commanders Orihara and Heiwajima have gone missing. We need a full report.”

As he worked his way through his bottles water, Grewal recognized his surroundings as Command. Or, at least, Command halfway through being dismantled. Most of the computer set up was gone, the rest being hauled out in parts. Their mission had been compromised further than Grewal had thought.

Sorting out the details best he could from the beginning, he said, “I was assigned a Neutralization target, Chaos level 22. The girl was in a solo situation, making her an easy corner. I followed, but she mingled with some other convention goers. I maintained distance until she made it to her room. I went to get into Neutralization range, and…”

He paused at the memory of his own perfect illusory replica. It went beyond looking into a mirror. Whatever that girl had done had _cloned_ him in every sense but physical.

“In order to properly assess our situation we need as detailed a report as possible,” the Agent standing over him reminded. “Please keep that in mind.”

Grewal nodded. “There was a person standing guard in front of the door.” He left out just who it was in front of the door and the words from his mentor he had been reminded of. Those couldn’t be as important as his next encounter. “However, they didn’t respond to any action I took. Upon contact, I was able to pass right through them. At this point, Commander Orihara ordered me to contain the target and I went inside.”

The Agent nodded, tapping against the edges of their own glasses. A piece of CMA technology, they were probably recording Grewal’s words as he spoke. “Commander Orihara’s order, you say?”

“Yes.”

“Did he explain why?”

“No, but it seemed urgent. I broke into the room and confronted the target.”

“And what was the target like?” There was no comment on his breach of standard protocol. He’d hear about it at his next evaluation, though.

“Female, late teens. Even with a low Chaos level, I knew to be cautious. She wasn’t surprised, and even spoke to me. She…she knew my real name, not just my code one. She knew about _us_, and wanted to know why she had been targeted when her levels were so low.”

“How did you respond?”

“I only told her she was in range and a suitable target. After that she…knocked me out somehow.” She had also restrained him physically. Her levels were high, but Grewal wasn’t supposed to know about that. Whatever she was went beyond his clearance level. _Wait, access—_ “She also said some weird code. I didn’t recognize it, but the Coms Terminal did.”

Grewal searched through his pockets, coming up short on finding his sunglasses. His interrogating Agent had better luck, picking them up from the bedside table. A few spoken commands later, and all of Grewal’s data had been copied over. The Agent took a moment to view the information, not even the slightest indication of the technology running on Grewal’s side of the lens.

“This is—”

“Got something interesting?” a new voice asked, plucking Grewal’s sunglasses out of the other Agent’s hands. The newcomer flicked them open to set on her face, and Grewal scrambled to stand upon recognition. “Sit down, Oliver. I wouldn’t make someone try to function at full capacity right after getting their brain hit with Chaos like that.”

Grewal stayed put out of the instinct to obey, but ducked his head in respect. “Sorry to not be in full shape to receive you, High Commander,” he apologized.

Chandra Singh tossed a dismissive wave into the air and sat down on the end of the bed. Despite her casual attitude, Grewal couldn’t calm down. If the head of the CMA had come to the site of an operation, something more serious than a dangerous target had to have happened. Singh tapped her fingers to Grewal’s glasses, eliciting a response.

“‘Security access level not authenticated,’ hm?” the High Commander muttered. “Security override code 539BR.”

The sunglasses let off a three part high toned beep, the signal of a successful search command. Singh whistled in response. Grewal felt useless without the visual interface to keep him up to date with the conversation. “A BUN level target, huh?” she mused. “I’d say you got lucky just going under, Oliver. You did what you could given the circumstances.”

“High Commander,” the standby agent warned, “Agent Clark is still below the required access codes for this information. I know he’s an important witness, but we shouldn’t give him more than necessary. He’s still on field probation due to—”

“Go help the others move Command. We can’t lose this operation. I’ll handle the rest. Dismissed.”

The sharp series of orders was more than enough to bring the other Agent to silence and send them running. Grewal didn’t feel any safer being alone with the head of the CMA, and the word _probation_ left a sour taste in his mouth.

Singh took a few more minutes, navigating menus in Grewal’s Coms Device before slipping them off. “I’d say you have crappy luck, Oliver.”

“Sorry for the inconvenience,” was all he could think to say.

Singh shook her head at his referral, but didn’t press the issue. The situation must have been as dire as Grewal had worried it would be. “I would have needed to come out to this bust anyway. We’ve got a BUN target, plus both of our commanding officers have gone missing. Data tracks them up to your target’s room and back down to Command, but they ditched their gear here. Any idea what that could be about?”

Grewal’s mouth ran dry again, but the water bottle was already empty. “Commanders Orihara and Heiwajima are both _missing_?” Were they among ordinary Agents, his words would have caused a commotion, but no one reacted. All those present were in the know. “That girl didn’t do something, did she? They’re not hurt or—”

“No, no injuries.” That was a relief. Singh looked around the room, eyes catching across the ceiling. She raised her voice to the others, “Be sure to fix up the smoke detector right before we leave.” Grewal hadn’t even noticed, though he knew it was for Heiwajima’s chronic smoking habit. Order in place, Singh pulled her own cigarette from her pocket and lit it up, snatching a near overflowing ashtray from the bedside table. “We don’t know where they went, though. We suspect they’re with Fenlon.”

Grewal’s frayed neurotransmitters grasped in recognition of his target’s family name. “But why? She’s a high level target, right? Why would they go after her without any of their gear?”

Singh smiled, stretching her dark lipstick. “A good question, and one we need to find them in order to answer.” Smoke coiled up to the hotel ceiling without protest. “Either way, we need to find them, and fast. With enough Chaos manipulation to make illusions, she’s a walking time bomb as is. Keep Fenlon around two out of worlders, and who knows what sort of threads she could exploit. We could have a disaster on our hands in the near future.”

“Do we have any idea where they’re heading?”

“You’re enthusiastic about this,” Singh remarked. Grewal scolded himself for not staying in check. While his concern for his superior officers was obligatory at best, he needed to know what was going on with the target. That personal reason would slip out at the wrong time without care. Singh blew a smoke ring into the air. “Well, you’re involved enough as it is. If you want to help, I’ll take an extra set of hands.” Grewal’s stomach twisted in a show of nerves and anticipation. Singh put out her cigarette in the overfilled ashtray. “We don’t have an exact location, but Fenlon’s Chaos signature is distinct. Now that we know who we’re looking for, it won’t be hard to tell just what direction they’re going.”

Grewal nodded, trying his best to keep up. “And when we find her?”

Singh stood and set the ashtray back down, dragging her shoe across the carpet. “That depends on what she’s done with Orihara and Heiwajima,” the woman said, smirking a bit too much for Grewal’s liking. “Now look alive, Oliver. We don’t want you getting discharged like that mentor of yours.”

* * *

Karellen scribbled down her home address, crawled into the backseat of their second rental car for the evening, stretched herself out across it, and fell asleep within ten minutes. Shizuo pushed the front passenger seat as far back as it could go in an attempt to let his legs stretch and smoked three cigarettes while Izaya procured a GPS through more than likely suspicious means. Within the hour of leaving the airport (hastened by not having any baggage to retrieve) they had picked up some fast food and caffeine and were on the road.

Even though he had (done his best to despite the annoyances around him) napped on the plane, Shizuo still dozed off in the first leg of the trip. The time zone change had done them no favors, and when Shizuo finally woke up it was to complete night and stars stretching across the dark sky. It could be considered very late at night or very early in the morning depending on who you asked.

“How much farther?” he grumbled, blinking in adjustment to the bright light of the GPS. It didn’t look like there were many houses along the road. In fact, it was mostly trees. Karellen hadn’t been kidding when she said that her home was “out there.”

Izaya couldn’t conceal the yawn in his response. “Ten minutes or so if I memorized the rest of the route properly,” he said, blinking at the road ahead of them. Shizuo had grown up in Tokyo and most CMA business took place in cities. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever gone so far into the country. “The GPS signal started getting iffy fifteen minutes ago. What sort of backwoods area has troubles getting a satellite signal?”

“Just wake the girl up.” For what Shizuo could see, she was still asleep. It wouldn’t do them any good if they got lost, even if the goal was to avoid the Agency. “She dragged us out here. She could at least help.”

“No dice. I tried to get her up, but all the Reality Alters wore her out. She didn’t even budge,” Izaya huffed. “I got gas not too long ago, so we should be able to drive for a while, but I’d rather not get stranded out here.”

Shizuo stopped mid-retrieval of another cigarette and dropped the back of his seat. Karellen’s head rested towards Izaya’s end of the car, and Shizuo reached out to poke her face. When that got no response, he tugged on her cheek, but she didn’t even make a sound of sleepy protest.

“Sheesh. What the hell?” Shizuo pulled his seat upright and rolled down the window, air smacking against his face. They had flown north, and even in the edge of summer the air was colder. Up here, fall would be just around the corner. “Not sure if falling asleep after changing Chaos is good or bad for her,” he mumbled.

Izaya rounded a corner that looked much sharper than either man had anticipated. Shizuo kept hold of his pack of cigarettes, smashing half of them. At least he had picked up another carton from their earlier pit stop. “Damn hills,” the brunette muttered.

“What was that?”

“I said we’re almost there,” Izaya deflected. “Don’t even try to lecture me on language, Shizu-chan. It’s always ‘bastard’ this and ‘damn that’ with you around.” Shizuo focused on the stretch of road in front of them. The houses were in walking distance of each other, but it would take several minutes to get to the closest neighbor. Maybe that sort of environment would have been better for his temper than the confines of a city. Nah, it wouldn’t hold the same job opportunities, even if those opportunities were from loan sharks. Ikebukuro was the best Shizuo would get if he went back.

Assuming this wasn’t a wild goose chase and worked and he went back.

_We’ve been here a year and the Agency hasn’t made any headway. Is it really something so easy that three kids can pull it off?_

Well, they were supposedly all kids with high Chaos levels, so that could make an impact. But even Izaya had said the amount of Chaos that had dragged them across dimensions was unnatural. Shizuo didn’t know what to think, other than to be suspicious. Some fans were a bit more…wild than others, and Karellen could have just been out of control in her fantasies.

“And two hours later, we arrive,” Izaya announced, pulling into a gravel driveway in front of Karellen’s house. Perched on a hill, it only had one floor, but plenty of vertical space. Hills stretched out behind it, trees farther back. Shizuo couldn’t even see the last house they had passed. It really was the middle of nowhere. “Now, I vote you carry Karellen-chan, and we’ll figure out what room to crash in. I call dibs on the first available bed.”

“Hold up.” Shizuo jabbed his finger to Izaya’s window. “There’s another car there. We can’t just go inside and expect to _not_ cause trouble. I thought she said that everything would be taken care of when we got back.”

Izaya observed the other vehicle and shut down the car engine. “I approved and read her Reality Alters on the plane. She sent her mothers out for the weekend, and they left one car behind.” Shizuo frowned, but he had seen what Karellen’s abilities could do. Even so, years of dealing with Izaya kept him in a suspicious frame of mind when in unfamiliar territory. Izaya opened the rental car door and stood, making his way to the house. “Do grab Karellen-chan, will you? And don’t forget her bag. I’ll try to figure out which room is hers. Scouting mission!”

“Don’t go doing anything weird, Flea!” With the lack of nearby people, Shizuo’s bellow echoed across the night hills. Izaya paid no mind and skipped towards the door. Karellen didn’t even stir at the raised voice.

Shizuo sighed and stepped out of the car, trying to figure out the best way to carry Karellen without things getting awkward. Hefting her over the shoulder seemed in bad taste, even if Shizuo didn’t trust her. Sleep still stinging at his eyes, the blonde settled on a princess carry, balancing her bag across the girl’s stomach. Even with the combined weight, Karellen was light. Then again, to Shizuo, most things and people were light, so it was a moot point.

Izaya had left the door hanging open, but there wasn’t the bite of air conditioning as Shizuo stepped through the doorway. An open living room spread out before him, a large television capturing most of the attention on the wall. Farther back sat a dining table with open windows behind it, displaying the snatch of the hills behind the house. Down a hallway to the right lights had been turned on, and Izaya’s rummaging sent echoes through the house. A cat on top of the couch cracked open a cranky eye at those disturbing its rest. Shizuo pushed the door closed with his foot, kicked off his shoes, and followed after the Flea.

A glimpse into the kitchen, an office area, and a small den later, Shizuo found Izaya sticking his head into a room. “You can put her down here, Shizu-chan,” the brunette chirped. “This one’s got to be hers.”

Once Shizuo got a glimpse inside, he understood why. While the rest of the house was decorated in a standard manner, the room had so much paper on the walls you could barely make out the paint color. Hand drawings and anime print outs alike formed a collaged wallpaper, alongside a few posters and calendar sporting cute chibi animals. Of particular note was the wall scroll hanging above the bed with Shizuo’s own and Izaya’s image on it.

No matter how many times Shizuo saw the merchandise, it didn’t change how strange it was to see an anime-rendered version of himself staring back at him. _A big fan_ didn’t even start to cover it.

In comparison to the cluttered walls, the floor was clean as Izaya stepped further in. “A bit cramped, but it looks like she’s had this room for a while.” He leaned close to a wall, inspecting the pictures. Shizuo tried to ignore the multitude of Izayas in place. “I think she likes me better, Shizu-chan.”

“Well, it’s not like we’re going anywhere until she wakes up,” he deflected, not in the mood to play mind games. Sleep wouldn’t make the situation change any, but at least it would get him rested. Stepping around Izaya, Shizuo rested Karellen on the bed. “Get out, Flea. Like I’m gonna leave you alone in here.”

The brunette let out a mock gasp, but started to retreat anyways. “You should get out, too. I’m not sure you could handle being in a room alone with a girl.” Shizuo turned out the lights and closed Karellen’s door, making sure to keep between Izaya and the entry way. “Well, the only other bedroom is back this way, so I’ll be taking my dibs. See you in the morning, Shizu-chan!”

With a wave, Izaya spun around a corner Shizuo hadn’t even noticed was there, slipping farther into the house. Shizuo observed the path. The couches in the living room were bigger, but that would leave a direct path open. If Izaya started moving, the blonde at least wanted to know about it. Too tired to even want another cigarette, Shizuo turned out the lights in the den and settled across the love seat as best he could, trying to regain sleep.

At some point, the cat from the living room came to inspect the new stranger, and fell asleep on his stomach.


	9. Convene

**Ragnarok**

By: Aviantei

9

Convene

* * *

Karellen rolled over in bed to look at her alarm clock. It was already past ten AM, later than she had planned to sleep in. What time had she fallen asleep the night before? It was a blur. She sat up, frowning at the friction of jeans. She hadn’t even changed before heading to bed. What kind of disaster had that been?

Then she caught sight of her surroundings and the whole thing clicked together. At least Izaya and Shizuo had been able to find her house alright. She hoped the GPS hadn’t given them too much trouble. The one Reality Alter she had all her friends had set up was wards around their homes. No matter what sort of activity they caught up to, the CMA wouldn’t bust down their doors. It was an essential when they attracted such high Chaos signals.

Even with the safety that brought, Karellen didn’t want to waste time. She forced herself out of bed and dug a change of clothes from her closet. A pang of guilt caught in her chest. Izaya and Shizuo hadn’t been so lucky. If they had time, they could pick up a change of clothes or she could even make an Alter, though that would waste energy. The next opponent would be the CMA themselves, and Karellen couldn’t take such a drop in stamina without consequences.

But still. Orihara Izaya and Heiwajima Shizuo. In the flesh. Karellen had always had an active imagination and pretending that she was able to interact with her favorite characters had been par for the course. It paled in comparison to being around them, though. Even out of their home environment and looking like spectacularly well-done cosplayers, it was far too surreal.

Karellen slipped into the bathroom, not seeing either of her houseguests. She suppressed a worry that they had left without her and woke up with a quick shower. Her hairbrush had been left in the hotel, but she made due with a spare comb. Feeling refreshed after the hot spray of water, Karellen dressed and headed to the kitchen.

She had been prepared for a number of things, but Izaya cooking breakfast had not been one of them. Shizuo smoking at the dining table was much more expected, his smoke a bit sweeter amongst the traces of her mother’s own cigarette brand. A breeze drew most of the smoke out the window, and Izaya slid a pancake onto a waiting stack.

“And Sleeping Beauty awakes!” he greeted, pouring more batter into the frying pan with a sizzle. Karellen cut her losses and went for a glass of milk in advance. Shizuo would probably knock out the rest of the gallon by the time they left. “I hope you rested up, because we’ve got a busy day ahead of us.”

“Good morning to you both,” Karellen responded, taking a seat across from Shizuo at the table. She could still watch Izaya in the kitchen. Both men appeared to have discarded their suit jackets for the sake of comfort. A clothes stop might really be in order. “You seem chipper over there. Is making us breakfast a side effect of the good mood from being rested, or are you so overtired you’re getting delirious?”

“Right, putting the poison in Karellen-chan’s pancakes…”

Karellen shrugged. “If you want to pass up the opportunity to poison Heiwajima-san, then that’s your call.” The blonde snorted but tried to look away. She had seen him without sunglasses before, but it took some getting used to up close. He was handsome even as a cartoon, but translating that into Reality just seemed unfair. “Then again, poison wouldn’t work, or you’d have tried it already, so I don’t see why you’d have any on you.”

Izaya heaved a heavy sigh and finished off the first plate of pancakes. “Must you ruin my fun?”

“Small talk aside,” Shizuo said, standing to retrieve the plate, “we need to sort out what we’re doing today.” Karellen was willing to wait since her stomach hadn’t woken up all the way yet, but the blonde set the plate down in front of her. She gave a quick thanks and reached for the syrup. “So you’re feeling better? It looks like you’re our trump card in this situation.”

“One of three trump cards,” Izaya corrected, already back at his station in the kitchen. “Karellen-chan plus two more makes three. Simple math, you know.”

“Shut it, will you?”

Not wanting to think of how much energy it would drain to fix up a fight between Shizuo and Izaya in her kitchen, Karellen chose to step in. “I feel much better. Thank you, Heiwajima-san,” she said, distracting the blonde’s attention long enough to make him forget any reason to get riled up. “And I contacted my friends before we left last night. They’re on standby at Colleen’s house. We’ll meet up with them and hold a strategy meeting once you two are ready to go.”

Both men nodded, almost in sync. As neither was looking at each other, Karellen chose not to bring it up. She started in on her pancakes, which were pretty solid. It figured that Izaya could at least cook. If she didn’t know better, she’d say he was showing off.

And then he noticed Karellen’s gaze and smirked, launching a pancake into the air without a spatula and catching it back in the frying pan as if he did that sort of thing every day.

_Definitely showing off._

Karellen did her best not to react, but some of her surprise must have shown on her face. Shizuo looked back, only seeing the next batch of breakfast and claimed the plate for himself. Izaya pouted at the other man’s back but settled down into cooking for himself.

“So this whole Alter-macallit,” Shizuo said, dumping a fair amount of syrup over his own plate. Forget the milk; that bottle didn’t stand a chance when faced with a true sweet tooth. “You can really send us back with it? You’re not just using us as hostages or something?”

Almost choking on her next bite, Karellen chugged from her glass of milk to dislodge the pancake fragment. Shizuo looked somewhat apologetic, but the traces of suspicion hadn’t faded from his eyes. Izaya padded to the table without a sound and sat at the seat opposite of the window, out of Shizuo’s smoke stream. He twirled his fork once before tucking into breakfast, his watchful gaze never moving away from Karellen.

_He doesn’t think that’s valid, but it’s too amusing to watch me flounder to say otherwise,_ she realized. What a piece of work.

Windpipe free of all obstructions, Karellen looked back to Shizuo. Suspicious or otherwise, he was much easier to maintain eye contact with. “Who would be stupid enough to try and take either of you hostage?” she asked, setting her half-eaten plate aside for the moment. “This may not be your home universe, but I’m sure you’ve seen how infamous you two are. Heiwajima-san, you’re the Strongest Man in Ikebukuro. Izaya over here once let himself get kidnapped for fun.” Izaya paused mid bite of syrup-less pancake to nod. “I wouldn’t be able to put myself in a position over you, and if I was gonna try, I sure wouldn’t sign away control of my Reality Alter.”

The moment she said it, the weight of that action resurfaced. There was still the light pressure in the back of her skull, border-lining a minor headache, but more troublesome was the reminder that she didn’t know just what else Izaya had added into the contract she’d signed. She’d made it binding by infusing it with her Alter. With her luck, she might’ve already done something for Izaya she couldn’t remember.

It wasn’t quite how she’d imagined getting manipulated by him would be like. She felt too much bitterness for that.

“Shizu-chan might have a point, though,” Izaya said. As pleasing as his voice was, Karellen’s heart almost stopped at his words. “You signed away your Alter, but you have two friends who are on par with you. If you lot have enough power to send us home, that should be more than enough to restrain us, yes?”

Anger swelled in her so fast that she wondered if that was what Shizuo felt like every time Izaya was in the immediate radius. In contrast, Shizuo seemed calm, finishing off the last of his breakfast, with only syrup smears remaining. “Can it, Flea,” he said, smashing out his cigarette. “You’re just saying that because you wanna cause trouble. We already have control on her powers. Without it, she’s just a kid.”

Karellen was too busy being relieved that her argument had worked to feel mortification over being treated like a child. “And besides, holding you hostage would just catch the attention of the CMA, which I don’t want in the slightest,” she said for good measure. “I just want you guys back home, so you can stop strengthening the Influence Loop.” Knowing it wouldn’t do any good to face the day without a proper breakfast, Karellen cut another piece from her pancakes. “We should get moving as soon as we can. The faster this mess is over with, the better.”

“Right.” Shizuo stood, looking almost like his head would brush the ceiling, and collected his dishes. “I’m gonna go ahead and borrow your shower real fast. Just call me when we get going.” He lumbered towards the sink, though Karellen couldn’t tell if he’d been satisfied by her explanation or not.

Still, he’d picked her logic over Izaya’s, even if a bias had been involved. Unable to resist, Karellen stuck her tongue out at Izaya, then inhaled the rest of her breakfast.

* * *

The drive away from Karellen’s home was much easier with the girl herself awake to give directions. Fifteen minutes of hills, trees, and winding roads later, and Izaya pulled the car into a small town that looked as dull and country as the rest of the area. Shizuo was chewing on the butt of his cigarette in the backseat, while Karellen gave directions from the passenger’s side.

“And turn right here,” she said, pointing in Izaya’s peripheral. He flicked on the turn signal and checked traffic (nonexistent, just like any other obvious signs of life in the boring town). “Colleen’s is the third house. Yeah, that green one.” Karellen fidgeted with her seatbelt and put in a decent effort towards not making it look like she was rushing to get out of the car. “Come on, I’ll introduce you.”

Karellen hopped up the front porch steps with familiarity, leaving Izaya and Shizuo to follow. Unlike the night before, where the air had been crisp and cold, humidity was seeping through the morning. Ignoring the sweat trying to glue his shirt and back together, Izaya took point. He surveyed his surroundings out of pure habit but didn’t get anything interesting for his efforts: the porch had a few deck chairs on it, the house itself wasn’t in prime condition, but also wasn’t falling apart, and the rest of the neighborhood seemed to be pushing the boundary between upper and lower middle class.

_In the country or not, this is just mundane. I’ll take Ikebukuro any day._

“Doesn’t feel like a trap,” Shizuo said, watching Karellen knock on the front door, gripping onto her bag’s strap. “What do you think the chances are that this will actually work?”

Izaya couldn’t feel things like homesickness, but a certain sort of longing was tugging at his mind. If Karellen and her merry band of friends _could_ send them home however, he was ready for the opportunity. “Considering we already hopped dimensions once, there’s no point in questioning it,” he said. With hands in his pockets, Izaya tapped his fingers against his flick blade. “What do you think the chances are that they’ll agree to just send me back and just leave you here, Shizu-chan?”

“Karellen!”

The door flung open without any sense of caution, and a shorter, thicker girl sucked up Karellen into a hug. The new arrival spun her friend in a circle, spinning out the wide skirt of her dress, and her close-cropped auburn hair ruffled in the makeshift breeze. Karellen floundered a bit but gave up when it wasn’t earning her freedom. At last, she was back on her feet, and the shorter of the two stared down Izaya and Shizuo, eyes imitating seriousness behind wide-lensed glasses.

“Wow,” she said, “I’m not even you, Karellen, and I still think this is impressive.” Karellen sighed, opening her mouth, but was cut off. “Colleen Metelski. Your names are plenty obvious.”

“It’s a pleasure,” Izaya said, earning himself disbelieving glares from Shizuo and Karellen. Their synchronization was still amusing for the meantime. Colleen sniggered, elbowing Karellen in the ribs.

“You gonna just stand in the doorway and not do what you’re supposed to?” another voice called from inside the house. Its owner soon followed, revealing a lanky boy dressed in a plaid button up. He scratched at his head through a dark beanie. Like his two friends, he also had a pair of glasses. “You promised you’d focus this time. Inside.” He batted Colleen’s shoulder, she batted his hand back, then she rushed inside. “Dammit, Col, making me invite people inside your own house!”

Karellen shook her head, but a twist of a smile formed on her lips. “Well, as she said, the one who just ran inside was Colleen,” she said, then gestured to the boy. “This one’s Jarrett Gist. They’re the friends I mentioned, and it’s better to discuss the rest inside. Come on.” Without waiting for any responses, Karellen followed Colleen’s path. Jarret dipped his head in greeting, then waved Izaya and Shizuo inside. Having sized up the dynamic, Izaya took the invitation, leaving Shizuo to take up the rear.

The inside of the house was cluttered, enough spare pillows, scattered toddler toys, unshelved books, and empty dishes about that not even some serious tidying up would do the trick. Karellen tossed a stuffed sheep aside before taking a seat on the couch, while Colleen had already huddled up at the computer desk, paying no mind to her surroundings. Izaya snagged the open spot on the loveseat, Jarrett plopped down next to Karellen, and Shizuo propped himself up on the wall, still close to the door.

“Okay, so the gang’s all here,” Izaya said, clapping his hands together. Karellen went for a notebook, and Jarret dug a pen from his pocket, sticks of chewing gum and a headphone cord tumbling out. “Karellen-chan here has offered us your collective help, but I don’t plan on letting her contribute her Reality Alter until we get some more solid explanations.”

If either of the two other children were surprised by the news, they didn’t show it. In fact, Colleen continued to click at the computer mouse, some simple game with less than impressive graphics on the ancient screen. “Well, since all of us are familiar enough with your home world, we should be able to send you there,” Jarret said. Karellen nodded, tapping the eraser end of her pencil against the notebook’s cover. “The problem is getting that big of a Chaos input to fuel such a ridiculous Alter.”

Shizuo huffed. “I thought the point was you brats _had_ ridiculous Chaos levels.”

“Well, yeeeeeah,” Colleen said, not even looking back. “No matter how big our stats are, there’s a limit. If we wanted to, we could stockpile the stuff, but that would just put a giant beacon that even our shields can’t keep hidden.”

When no additional explanation followed, Karellen stepped in. “We put up barriers to keep the CMA from noticing us. Like the Alter I used to dupe your data into thinking I had a Chaos level of twenty-two.” Jarret snorted, grinning at the idea. “We’d rather not set something like that off where it would just make it obvious where we are. Plus it’s risky enough dragging you guys along. We don’t have enough time to take that route.”

“Goodness, Karellen-chan, you’re the one who made yourself a target by kidnapping us.” Even though the logic was sound, Izaya couldn’t resist taking the jab.

“I thought we discussed that kidnapping wasn’t reasonable, either.”

“This is great,” Jarret said, still snickering. Karellen scowled at him, too divided to find a proper direction to send her ire in. The situation could be great fun, after all. Jarret held up his hands in surrender. “What? I’m just sayin’, you’re always gushing about Izaya, so just watching you—”

Karellen’s face had exploded into a fierce red, and she jammed her elbow into Jarret’s gut. He choked, “Col, help,” but Colleen was zoned in on the screen again.

Shizuo coughed, a fist clenched at his side. He was resisting going for a cigarette, even though smoke lingered in the house like it had in Karellen’s. “If there’s not a lot of time, that means we shouldn’t sit around,” he said. Izaya agreed, but he didn’t show it. Karellen’s nod of affirmation did the job, though. “So what’s our next step?”

Jarret and Karellen exchanged a glance. They must’ve had some form of contact beforehand to have decided on a strategy, but Izaya wasn’t sure when they’d pulled it off. Judging by their grimaces, though, it wasn’t going to be anything simple. Not that he’d expected it to be.

“We’re going to have to go to CMA Headquarters,” Karellen said.

“What?” Shizuo asked, and even Izaya raised his eyebrows. Colleen hummed to herself at the desk, ignoring the atmosphere behind her. Shizuo’s long legs crossed the cluttered living room in two steps, and he leaned over the coffee table before Karellen. “We literally just traveled across _states_ to get away from the CMA. If you wanted that, the Flea and I could’ve just turned you in without all this trouble.”

Karellen’s lips quivered, but she was repressing a sigh, not fear. “That’s not the point, Heiwajima-san.” _Heiwajima-san,_ Jarrett mouthed with growing amusement. Karellen kept her eyes locked on Shizuo. “The second you guys detained me, I would’ve had my Alter locked up against my will. And even if I went to CMA Headquarters somehow still being able to use my powers, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything without Jarrett and Col to help me. It takes all three of us for our plan to work.”

“You haven’t told us what this plan is,” Izaya said. He had his guesses, but with the small fragments of information he had gathered, there was only so much he could predict. Shizuo remained hovering over Karellen, but she leaned around him long enough to shoot her latest glare in Izaya’s direction. “I can understand the problems with not being able to summon enough Chaos to make this work, but how does walking right into the CMA help?”

“Do you wanna be flung somewhere else when we try this?” Jarret asked. He stood as well, but skirted around Shizuo to pace across the room. “Look, Col, Kar, and I have ridiculous Alter capabilities, no doubt about it. But the fact is, even the three of us couldn’t pull someone out of another dimension with precision.” He tapped the fingers of one hand into the opposite palm. “But, if we have more Chaos—more innate imagination to pull on—we can do a better job instead of just stranding you in the middle of nowhere. So instead of setting of a beacon and bringing the CMA to us, we can go to them and take care of all the Chaos you guys have been swiping—”

Izaya held up a palm, unable to keep the slight lick of irritation from his voice. “Karellen-chan, that sounds like a secret you’ve been keeping.” Shizuo’s teeth were grinding against each other that it was almost audible, and the girl in question went to protest, but Colleen stood up with enough force, to send the package of cookies next to her flying off the desk and to the floor.

“Exposition later,” she said. “We can talk in the car. CMA agents are almost here.”


	10. Retreat

**Ragnarok**

By: Aviantei

10

Retreat

* * *

There were several beats of silence as the words sunk in. Karellen was the first to move, lunging at Shizuo. He was too stunned by the sudden movement to even think to counter—but she just snatched onto the front of his shirt, dragging him close enough so that the fingers of her free hand could graze down the side of his neck.

Right over the hidden mic that Shizuo had forgotten he was wearing.

“You didn’t ditch all of your gear?” Karellen said, voice boiling close to a shout. Unaccustomed to teenage girls yelling in his face, Shizuo just blinked. Karellen scoffed in disgust and shoved herself away from Shizuo, throwing herself at Izaya next. Jarret whistled, and Colleen was already running, her footsteps thundering out of the living room and up the stairs. Shizuo turned, catching sight of Karellen tearing Izaya’s hidden mic out of his hands. “I can’t believe both of you! What’s so hard about leaving everything you had in Command?”

Shizuo felt a wave of guilt. To be far, he only ever took the damn thing off for maintenance, and it melded so well into his skin that half the time he forgot it was there unless he needed to use it. Izaya was a different story, but even he seemed surprised about the piece of equipment.

“Don’t fret, Karellen-chan, things are more interesting this way,” Izaya said, ruffling her hair. Shizuo finished peeling off his own mic, and Karellen seemed to recognize her position, jumping off the couch. Jarret’s grin grew wider, even as he was fiddling with an mp3 player. “We weren’t going to make it into CMA Headquarters without some trouble. Might as well start now.”

Karellen spluttered out several frustrated insults. Watching someone else get angry over Izaya made it easier for Shizuo not to blow his own top. “Here,” Jarret said, holding out a hand. He stepped towards Shizuo, though not without hesitation. “I’ll take the mic. You should grab Kar’s notebook, too.”

Shizuo complied, grabbing the item from between the couch cushions. The thud of Colleen’s footsteps signaled her return, and she shoved a handheld game console into an already stuffed messenger bag. “You guys are still inside? We needed to be gone like fifteen minutes ago!” She flung open the front door, and Jarret tossed one more grin at Karellen before jogging outside.

They didn’t even bother to lock up the house and were piling into the car soon after. Leaving the three friends to the backseat, Shizuo loaded himself into the front as Izaya was turning the key in the ignition. “So which way should I drive us?” Izaya asked, already pulling onto the road. “Considering that our pursuers are probably coming from the direction of Headquarters, not that way?”

Shizuo glanced into the backseat. Colleen in the middle was frowning at a laptop, Jarret leaning over her, while Karellen had started scribbling already, tongue stuck out the side of her mouth in concentration. “No, they’re coming from the south-west,” Colleen said. “I guess you must’ve attracted some new friends in Texas, Karellen.”

“Not on purpose, dammit,” Karellen said, not once stopping her frantic writing. She almost tossed the pen aside when she’d finished, though, her head popping up to look at the front seat. “Okay, I’ve got something that will let us teleport out of their expected range. All of us. Permission to execute?”

Shizuo frowned. “If you’re gonna do that, why not just take us to HQ?”

“Do you remember how Karellen-chan passed out last night, Shizu-chan?” Izaya slowed the car as it approached a red light, but he took a right turn, given the minimal traffic. “There’s no point in dumping ourselves into enemy territory with her unconscious. So long as it’s transporting all of us, permission granted.”

“That’s still a big order to fill,” Jarret said, craning his neck to get a look at Karellen’s writing without getting in Colleen’s view. He pressed an earbud into one ear, then offered Karellen his hand. “Here, lemme help out.”

Karellen and Jarret’s clasped hands rested on the back of the seat, then they both closed their eyes. Jarret was mouthing words that Shizuo couldn’t decipher, and Karellen’s free hand pressed against her notebook. Colleen even paused her tapping away to give them silence. Outside the windows, the world kept rolling by, lines of pizza shops and pharmacies, and they were about to pass a gas station when the world shifted.

The small town traded out places for a highway. Shizuo felt a lurch in his stomach, and Izaya must’ve felt it, too, with the grimace on his face, but he accelerated the car to the proper speed soon enough. Karellen and Jarret both sighed, and when Shizuo looked away from the near empty stretches of land now around them, the teens had slumped backwards.

“Why are you such a damn overachiever?” Jarret asked, tugging his beanie down over his eyes. “We could’ve done just fine shifting a few miles, not a couple hundred?”

Karellen was too worn out to even frown. “Excuse me for wanting something closer to a guarantee,” she said, sounding out of breath. “Col, how’d we do?”

A few taps on the laptop later, and Colleen nodded. Even Shizuo let out his own sigh of relief. “Definitely enough of a leeway to keep us from getting caught,” Colleen said. After typing out a few more commands, the GPS on the dashboard blinked to life, a new route in place. Satisfied, Colleen shut the laptop with a snap. “That should get us where we need to be. I’ll leave this next part to you.” Without any further remarks, she pulled Jarret and Karellen next to her, instigating a group cuddle.

Shizuo turned back to the front, trying to make sense of where in the country they were. Izaya had finished looking over the new route and seemed satisfied enough. “I didn’t exactly agree to this so I could be a chauffeur, but if it’s what must be done,” he said, overdramatic as ever. Shizuo went for a cigarette, not in the slightest ready for several hours of driving again, let alone with the Flea as company. “So long as we can stop for gas sometime soon enough, we’ll make it to HQ before nightfall.”

* * *

Singh whistled, and it was enough to send a shiver down Oliver’s spine. The moment Command had been relocated and passed on to some substitute Commanders, the CMA Head had wasted no time in dragging Oliver from the hotel and into a car. The whole operation change had taken the night, and so Oliver was spending his morning on a plane ride that he didn’t even know the destination to. With the CMA’s influence, he, Singh, and a few other higher-ranking Agents had the entirety of first class to themselves, while the stewards had been given express orders not to bother them after serving refreshments.

“That was a little bit more extreme than I’d expected,” Singh said, staring up at the ceiling. She didn’t even look the least bit tired from the lack of rest, and her dark hair was smooth and beautiful. Oliver, on the other hand, felt very much like a university student about to pass out from final exam stress, and the built-up grease must’ve had his face shining like a beacon. “You gotta give it to those BUN-level targets. They sure do know how to make a mess of things.”

“Did…something happen?” Oliver risked asking. It was better than letting the stream of complaints building in his mind spill out his mouth.

Singh smirked again, looking beyond amused by Oliver’s cluelessness. “Well, we sent an advance unit after your little friend. They pulled off a rather impressive Chaos manipulation, though, so we’ve lost sight of them.” Singh shrugged. “We’ll be able to find them soon enough, though.” Oliver couldn’t help but wonder how she’d figured that out, but maybe there were some mysteries left unsolved.

_There’s something very wrong with the higher-ups,_ his mentor had said, when she told him about people like Karellen Fenlon and their powers. It had been a warning he had never heard the rest of.

Not wanting to put himself in a worse position than he already was (if that was even possible), Oliver decided to ask a different question. “What does that code mean? The BUN one?” Despite making it sound as if she didn’t have a problem with Oliver getting his hands on more information, Singh hadn’t bothered to say anything about it. Based on the way her smirk widened, maybe she had been waiting for him to ask.

Singh’s nails tapped against her seat’s armrest. “As you know, we use several different target codes to categorize the types of Chaos levels.” The other Agents seated nearby had incredulousness in their eyes that Oliver even deserved to hear the information, but they didn’t dare speak out against their superior. Oliver focused on Singh, though, nodding; that had been part of the basic Agent training. “Beyond standard levels, repeat offenders, and even concentration-affected targets, there’s one more: Chaos Manipulators. They not only have ridiculously high levels, but enough awareness to so actively and consistently use that power. Those are the BUN targets.”

Oliver swallowed, the memory of the illusion replica of himself stuck in his mind. There was no doubt that Karellen Fenlon had been one of those targets, even if she hadn’t recited her number at him. “That’s dangerous, isn’t it?”

“Very.” Singh’s eyes roved over him, as if looking for some trace that he was feigning ignorance. As much as Oliver wanted to hunch in on himself, he kept his posture as relaxed as he could. _She thinks my mentor already told me this. _“In any event, this particular BUN target, Miss HV1AN731, is even more dangerous because she has friends.” The lump in Oliver’s throat grew. “Since she managed to rendezvous, we also have BUN-P4P4H and BUN-5U1H0P to deal with.”

In his jacket pocket, Oliver’s sunglasses chirped at the code. Singh nodded, and we went to put them on. Unlike before, with Karellen, he could see the profiles that had loaded up, thanks to his overnight access increase. Two teens—Jarret Gist, seventeen and Colleen Metelski, sixteen—smiled back at him, looking like nothing more than ordinary kids.

But their Chaos levels were another story.

Sure, the current monitoring data only had them in a similar level to where Fenlon had been: the mid-teens to low twenties. But the CMA kept records of all previous Chaos levels in order to track possible resurgences, and the numbers that were in Gist’s and Metelski history far exceeded the two-hundred level benchmark that necessitated Command Officers’ involvement.

_F-four-hundred…?_

Singh hummed a short note, catching Oliver’s attention. He refocused on the woman, the display of his glasses fading into a faint overlay. Recognizing that his mouth was hanging open, Oliver snapped it shut.

“Those three have a collective base Chaos level exceeding twelve-hundred,” Singh said. The mere idea sent a shiver of fear through Oliver, but Singh sounded no more concerned than one would over a fly buzzing overhead. “If they start resonating with each other, they can break through thresholds of the two-thousands.”

The highest Chaos level individual that Oliver had ever faced down in person had been just past one-hundred, and that had been taken care of in a group, as per protocol. “H-how are we supposed to do anything about kids like that? They could—” Singh raised an eyebrow, but Oliver caught his tongue before he let it slip. “They could pretty much tear the universe apart, couldn’t they?”

Singh crossed her long legs, nodding. “Yes, that much concentrated Chaos could very easily cause a disruption in the universe balance. We might even end up with similar situations to Heiwajima and Orihara.” Remembering that this mission was supposed to be about his missing superiors, Oliver tried to remember anything else unusual that they might have done before disappearing, but he couldn’t do it. “Until now, our targets haven’t done anything harmful, but they’ve also been concealing themselves. Neutralizing them is best in everyone’s interests, especially if they’ve taken action against our Agents.” Singh smiled, flicking a finger in Oliver’s direction. “So I’ll have you go ahead and take care of them as our vanguard, okay?”

“Me?” Oliver looked to the other Agents, realized he had just questioned a direct order from the head of the CMA, and swallowed his next protests. “Of course, if you think that’s best, ma’am, but how am I supposed to get going? We packed gear, but it’s in with the rest of the luggage.”

“Oh, Oliver,” Singh said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her metal cigarette case, “I’ve been doing this for almost a decade. Do take care not to underestimate me.”

* * *

Colleen Metelski finished stretching as she stepped out of the gas station bathroom and headed back to the car. Jarret and Karellen were still fussing over which snacks to get, but Colleen trusted their judgement. She had taken a nap as they drove and felt refreshed from the constant use of her Alter. While it wasn’t as demanding as Karellen’s massive energy dumps to affect change, or as physically involved as Jarret’s could be, replenishing energy while they still had the chance was necessary.

Shizuo had wandered off out of the gas station’s immediate range to take a smoke, while Izaya had been left with the duty of replenishing the gas tank. Karellen had done an excellent job pulling them out of the range of the first wave of CMA pursuit, and they still had about four hours of driving until they made it to actual HQ. The sun was still shining over the stretch of highway, but it would be evening once they started the infiltration.

Not bothering to acknowledge Izaya, Colleen hopped back into the car and rummaged through her bag. It was strange, seeing an anime character in the flesh, but there were higher priorities for the moment. Unearthing her laptop from the collection of handheld consoles, Colleen tapped in the password, then booted the necessary game from her desktop.

They had never bothered to name their individual techniques, but Reality Alters varied based on the person. Karellen’s technique, which was best for creating big changes and had the most flexibility, required that she write out or even sketch a scenario with pen and paper, then push to impose that scenario on reality. Colleen’s was best at gathering information and creating stage changes, but it also shared the necessary requirement of connecting to the image and imposing it on reality.

Her conduit was games.

Sinking into the rental car seat, Colleen tapped at the indie war strategy game. Once she’d set up the basic field, she closed her eyes to focus on her Alter. Instead of imposing the image of the game onto reality, she instead willed reality to be reflected on the game. The car bounced as Karellen and Jarret hopped into their respective seats, shutting the door and cutting off the stench of gasoline. Not wanting to break Colleen’s concentration, they kept their silence.

“How’s it looking?” Jarret asked once she opened her eyes. Colleen surveyed the game. The pieces had shifted from their default positions, but they were clear of enemies in the immediate radius of her starting marker. Keeping her Alter in affect in the background, Colleen left the game open and scrolled across the field.

“The pursuers are in about the same places they were before,” she said. Several enemy units were approaching but were still at a safe distance. Colleen still frowned, and Karellen dropped a pack of fruit snacks in her lap. “They must’ve guessed where we’re heading to, so they might send some people from HQ, but we’re in the clear for now.”

“Then we should be in the clear for a bit longer, then,” Izaya said, sliding into the driver’s seat. Shizuo lumbered in as well, completing the party. “Everyone ready to go? Then we’re setting out. Karellen-chan, did you manage to get enough to share with the rest of the class?”

Karellen twitched, her face twisting in frustration while a blush crawled up her neck. “Well, I got Heiwajima-san some donuts, but you managed to slip my mind,” she said. “Would you two care to share?” Colleen looked to Jarret, and they shared a snicker. “Oh, hush up! Don’t act like you wouldn’t be the same if like Mikado or Masaomi were here.”

Colleen avoided immediate eye contact, ripping open her bag of fruit snacks. Jarret didn’t miss a beat, saying, “Yeah, but these two are here, and you’re just too fun to tease.”

“God, please just go and die.”

“I’m not sharing with the Flea, but can I have the donuts anyway?” Shizuo asked. Colleen repressed another splutter as Karellen complied, though she did notice that there were still some leftovers in the bag when all the snacks were distributed. Knowing it was her job to keep up surveillance, Colleen glanced back to her laptop.

An enemy marker had appeared right on top of them, turning the sweet taste of her snack to ash.

“Don’t stop driving!” Colleen said, slamming her laptop shut and diving for her messenger bag. After much digging, she unearthed an old Game Boy Color, a fighting game crammed in the cartridge slot. It wasn’t her best stage, but it would have to do. She started to undo her seatbelt, even as Izaya accelerated up the highway entrance ramp, and went to crawl across Karellen to the door. “I’ll take care of this one.”

“Are you sure?” Jarret asked, stuck in a fight with the child lock on his seatbelt. “You’ve been using your Alter a lot, and I can take care of a big force easier than you can.”

Colleen managed to flick up the lock, then powered on her game. “It’s just one-v-one combat. I’m better suited for this than you are.”

“What’s going on?” Shizuo asked. “If we’re under attack, I—”

“How the hell are we supposed to send you home if you get dragged somewhere else?” Karellen asked. Shizuo fell silent. Colleen’s game booted all the way, and she started up the select character and stage screen, pressing her Alter forward all the while. Karellen managed to navigate around Colleen enough to produce pen and paper. “I’m gonna give Col a boost so she doesn’t kill herself jumping out of the car. Authorize it.”

“Granted,” Izaya said, without much delay. Colleen sighed in relief, and the rush of adrenaline from Karellen’s Alter followed soon after. “Do hurry up. I think that’s who you’re worried about in the road ahead.”

He didn’t need to tell Colleen twice. She flung open the door and dived to the side of the road, tumbling first against concrete, then onto coarse grass, flecks of gravel sticking to her bare arms. Thanks to Karellen, she didn’t take any damage. The coiling sensation in her gut stretched out to maximum, then it snapped into place as her Alter did its duty and affected the rest of the world to match her parameters.

Standing some distance in front of Colleen was a figure, their head swiveling around in surprise at how they’d been moved. But even with that, they caught onto their composure again with a speed worthy of the several layers of high-end CMA gear they were decked out with.

Colleen glanced one more time at her Game Boy to catch her opponent’s name, then tucked it into her back as she grinned at Oliver, right before the booming voice echoed through the sky above:

_Ready… Fight!_


	11. Advance

**Ragnarok**

By: Aviantei

11

Advance

* * *

Oliver had hardly adjusted to the pure disorientation of landing in the middle of a highway with no warning from whatever Commander Singh had done before the second shift took him. The world shifted into double for a second, and then he was no longer standing on the asphalt, but instead the grass beside it. The updated gear Singh had outfitted him with displayed that his primary targets of Commanders Orihara and Heiwajima were zipping past, presumably in their getaway vehicle. A fresh indicator showed that one of the BUN targets was much closer by, and he looked forward to the figure several dozens of feet away from him, fiddling with something in its hands.

_Ready… Fight!_

The voice booming down from the sky was a clear indicator of a Chaos Manipulation, and the readings on his new eyepiece confirmed the fact. The opponent before him was Colleen Metelski, age sixteen. The innocent smile in her CMA profile picture bellied the immensity of her Chaos level of 421. In comparison to the other two, she had the lowest total, but it was nothing like Oliver had ever faced on his own, and a cold sweat broke out over her skin.

He got the sense that Coleen was still smiling, even though he couldn’t see her expression from the distance they were at. She shifted her stance and raised a hand, gesturing towards herself, the message clear: _Come on, show me what you’ve got._

Oliver’s training kicked his brain into high gear quick enough to assess that she was there to take care of him, along with the fact that Colleen Metelski had enough power to be a hassle if he pursued the others. The quickest choice to complete his orders was to fight, and Oliver took his own defensive stance as quickly as he could.

A smart move since Colleen Metelski had dashed across the dozens of feet between them in a move that wouldn’t have looked the slightest bit out of place as a dash animation in a video game. Her punch came with an intense enough force that Oliver was surprised he didn’t even flinch as her fist rammed into his block. When she leapt right over his head, her long skirt fluttering with the movement, and kicked Oliver square in the back, he realized that her Chaos Manipulation _had _shifted things to be like a video game, and one where she knew the controls better than he did at that.

He didn’t bother to think things through logically. Catching himself before he went prone on the ground, Oliver spun around to kick directly at Colleen’ stomach. She moved enough to not take the full brunt of the blow, but it wasn’t a clean dodge in the slightest. What followed was a quick succession of trading hits until they both backed up to give themselves a breather.

Colleen grinned in a way that looked far too predatory for her round face. “Not bad,” she said, wiping the sweat off her face. Though they’d both taken damage, there didn’t seem to be any blood. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that the CMA teaches you how to fight, but you know a bit more than self-defense, don’t ya, Oliver?”

Since Karellen Fenlon had known his name, too, Oliver didn’t bother to feel any shock at the casual referral. Even if that hadn’t been the case, he was far too hopped up on adrenaline to care. “If you’re trying to talk, I don’t suppose I can get you to give up whatever plan your lot has, can I?” For some reason, his words were far too calm, even for him. What kind of magic had Singh pulled off when she’d sent him there?

“Nope,” Colleen said, popping the p. “I just thought I’d give you a moment to adjust. I mean—” her grin came back in full force, the sunlight leaving a harsh glare across her round glasses “—it’s no fun beating someone at a game when they don’t even know the rules.”

Oliver didn’t even have time to process how dangerous that mentality was before Colleen was back at him in a fierce combo of blows he couldn’t find his way out of. His fight or flight instincts held their own round of combat for a second, and fight somehow won enough for him to stand his ground. Sure, it only resulted in Colleen landing a punch to Oliver’s chest that sent him back. That time, he was grateful for the fact that he had landed prone on the ground as a bright white light that had to be some energy beam or another flashed across his vision.

“Oh, shoot, got the timing wrong.” Colleen shook out her wrists as Oliver drew himself back up to his feet. She drew back into a stance, a ball of white forming once again in her hands. Oliver took advantage of the open terrain and dodged left before charging at Colleens side from the opposite end of her attack, He grabbed onto her closest arm and yanked it aside, causing the ball to self destruct.

Her hiss was confirmation that she’d taken some damage, but Oliver couldn’t afford to stop there, not when Colleen had abilities he didn’t. Shifting his weight, he managed to throw Colleen over his shoulder, slamming her into the ground. She choked, but there wasn’t any blood. Oliver kept one hand on her wrist and used the other to fiddle with his gear, trying to find the tranquilizer he was supposed to have. Colleen didn’t give him the opportunity, wrenching his wrist hard enough that he was surprised it didn’t break and setting herself free. In a matter of moments, she’d shifted into a crouch and was sweeping his legs out from beneath them. Oliver landed on his ass in a mix of grass and gravel that coughed up a plume of dust that made his eyes water long enough that he didn’t see Colleen’s boot until it had struck him right in the side of the head.

His vision blurred worse for a few moments, the resulting spots refusing to fade no matter how much he blinked, and he had only been able to keep himself upright by the chance that he’d caught himself with his aching hand. He blindly grabbed at the air, hoping to at least catch part of Colleen’s clothes, but he missed, because she was no longer in front of him.

Oliver wasted precious moments on blinking himself to proper vision, but the result wasn’t much different from frantically looking around the blurred scenery of grass and the highway a way off. Colleen had completely disappeared from view, and Oliver’s adrenaline spiked ever higher, causing an unmistakable sensation of panic to rush through him. Had she vanished in the same way Singh had sent him to the targets’ location? Had she hidden somewhere for a sneak attack? Maybe she’d turned invisible; with so much else that had happened in the past twenty-four hours, it wouldn’t be a surprise—

“Come on, don’t tell me you’re afraid to look up!”

Oliver threw his head back so fast that it felt like he’d pulled a muscle. As her words suggested, Colleen had taken to the sky, though she hadn’t sprouted wings or anything else of the sort. Instead, she simply floated there, as if she’d chosen to shrug off gravity’s impact for a while. More immediately concerning, though, was that she’d raised her hands straight up, and a massive ball of light was growing right above her open palms. It was obvious that Oliver was the target and that the area of effect was large enough that he’d have no time to dodge, even if he had managed to catch sight of it earlier.

“Look, don’t get me wrong,” Colleen continued as the ball continued to grow to a size that almost eclipsed what Oliver could see of the cloudy sky above, “this has been fun, Oliver. But I don’t have time to play around too much.” She glanced up to the energy orb then back down, her smile almost shrouded in shadows. “Sorry, but this fight isn’t a best two out of three opportunity. So here comes the finisher!”

In one hefty movement, Colleen had launched the projectile at him. Oliver managed to scramble to his feet, even with the gravel rolling underneath the thick soles of his boots. For what good it might do, he crossed this arms in front of him, deciding blocking had to be better than attempting to retreat and getting knocked straight in the back with a blast that huge.

He didn’t get the opportunity to test that theory.

There was a whirring sound so faint that Oliver almost didn’t catch it. What he did catch, however, was the vibration against his arms as _something_ on his new gear activated. The brightness of Colleen’s attack reached a zenith, forcing Oliver to close his eyes, only for the light to burn red into his eyelids—but no pain followed. Instead, something in his suit triggered, releasing a high pitched whirring noise. The light faded, then the sound, then a fierce thump accentuated by Colleen’s loud grunt. The booming voice from the heavens spoke once more:

_K.O.!_

That was enough to shock Oliver out of his stupor, and he opened his eyes in enough time to see glowing green barrier that had formed around him flicker out. Just as the effect of the Chaos Manipulation had declared, Colleen wasn’t moving. His CMA goggles confirmed the same thing once he focused on the interface. Even so, Oliver remained cautious as he moved closer, half expecting Colleen to launch herself in a fresh attack.

Relief and guilt scrambled for priority as his fighting high started to wind down. Yes, he was glad that he had avoided what looked to be a devastating finisher, but that didn’t mean he’d wanted to hurt the girl in the process, high Chaos rating target or not. The closer he got, the more vulnerable Colleen looked; she’d landed on her side, dust had stuck to her clothes, and her glasses had gone caddywompus on her face. Regardless, he couldn’t afford to leave her armed (in a manner of speaking), and Oliver went to quick work on searching her pockets for anything she had. For the most part, he came up empty, save for the handheld gaming device she’d had before the fight. On the screen were pixelated versions of himself and Colleen, the girl’s avatar lying unconscious on the ground. With a grimace, Oliver thumbed the power switch into the off position and stowed it in his own pocket, where it bumped against his DS-shaped Neutralizer.

Ordinary CMA protocol dictated that you were to Neutralize a target at the first available moment, but ordinary CMA protocol hadn’t covered any situation like the one Oliver found himself in—he doubted that his Neutralizer could even put a dent in Colleen’s four-hundred plus Chaos levels. With that avenue blocked off, Oliver ran his fingers down his neck to activate his communication device. There the crackle of static as the communicator didn’t pick up any signal, and then Commander Singh’s voice came in with absolute clarity.

“It seems like Heiwajima and Orihara managed to get away from you, hm?” she said with an amused lilt to his voice. Anxiety pushed any and all other emotions out of the way to take center stage, and Oliver couldn’t keep himself from swallowing. “Now, don’t be so tense. I wasn’t honestly expecting you to gather them all in one go. In fact, you did much better than I expected.”

Oliver didn’t have the capacity to even begin to feel insulted by getting tossed into a failing mission. Even if he did, it wouldn’t do him any good whatsoever, and he instead allowed himself to fall into the familiar pattern of reporting to HQ, of delegating responsibility to those above him. “Colleen Metelski is unconscious, and I’ve confiscated what I believe to be her Chaos Manipulation trigger. The rest are still moving. What should I do next?”

A faint worry started to build up in him, that maybe his next order would be to rush off and get into another brawl with one of the other BUN targets. Even with his near miraculous turnaround against Colleen thanks to his upgraded gear, Oliver didn’t think he could handle another stressful rush like that in such a short amount of time.

“Well we certainly can’t let a BUN target just sit out in the wild after we’ve managed to subdue them,” Singh said, her voice still in that blend of crisp professionalism and slight amusement. The high quality communications equipment picked up the faint tapping of Singh’s nails against some hard surface. “As far as I can tell from their position, the others are going to come right to us, so we’d just be wasting our energy on hunting them down. Tell you what, Oliver. I’ll go ahead and send you a ride, and you can be responsible for bringing P4P4H back to HQ. How does that sound?” It was a rhetorical question with only one correct answer.

“Yes, ma’am, I’ll take care of it.” Though his gear included GPS functionality, he hadn’t had any sliver of time to check it since he’d landed, but the process of making it to HQ had to take several hours at most. With far less pressure than had been on him during the fight, Oliver was easily able to find the tranquilizer equipped in his gear. “I’ll be sure to keep the target under close watch and make sure she gets back to HQ.” Hopefully they could fully Neutralize her Chaos levels at Headquarters and take away the immediate threat. “Should I report to you when I’m en route?”

“Don’t worry yourself about that, I’ll handle it.” While it wasn’t the most strategic move, Oliver didn’t have any authority or energy to argue. “We’ll see each other at Headquarters, Oliver.” And without anything else resembling a farewell, Singh cut the connection between them, leaving Oliver with just radio silence and the occasional sound of a vehicle zipping past on the highway. Not wanting to attract any unnecessary attention, he focused on moving Colleen so that they were out of immediate sight of anyone on the road. Thanks to his training, it was an easy task, and he placed her down as gently as he could, not wanting to risk jostling her from sleep.

The peaceful look on her face sent a fresh twist of guilt through his gut, and Oliver had to avoid looking at her as he pressed his closed fist against Colleen’s forearm to activate the tranquilizer. She wouldn’t wake up anytime soon, and his gear gave an estimated countdown to when she’d need a fresh dose. Not wanting to see the number, Oliver put his sunglasses into sleep mode and settled down on the rough grass beside the girl.

“Is this how we’re supposed to help people?” he asked in a whisper, thinking of his mentor. She’d always had an answer, or at least the words to push him in the right direction. But that had disappeared when she’d left the CMA without a warning.

She wasn’t there anymore. It was just Oliver, alone and staring up at the gray sky as he waited for his ride.

* * *

Seeing as trying to lean back in her car seat and relax wasn’t doing her any good, Karellen was almost considering executing a big enough Reality Alter to make her pass out for a short nap. Too many thoughts were racing through her head, including a worry for Colleen, left behind to fight against the CMA. Yes, she had volunteered, but had Karellen made the right decision in letting Colleen go? There were just so many risks, and it would be a waste of her energy just to make it possible to see how Colleen was doing, seeing as their time driving had brought them ever closer to the CMA’s headquarters.

The near silence in the car wasn’t helping, either. Izaya and Shizuo had chosen to stop talking for the sake of not agitating the other enough to cause issues, and the constant loss of radio signals had left the stereo silent. Karellen had tried distracting herself, but the glow of her phone screen had started to give her a headache, and the ride wasn’t smooth enough to make writing or sketching a productive endeavor. Trying to think about anything else for fun just lead back to worrying about Colleen, and the whole cycle got her nowhere.

Once again, Karellen closed her eyes and tried to steady herself. Worrying wouldn’t get them anywhere; she’d done enough by using her Alter to give Colleen a boost. And, at the absolute worst case scenario, the CMA wouldn’t risk hurting Colleen, because she would be beneficial to what they wanted, that much _couldn’t_ have changed since two years ago, it didn’t make any sense for it _to_ change—

Something soft pressed against her ear, and the sound of music that came with it made Karellen realize that Jarrett had given her one of his earbuds. The song playing was a K-pop song she faintly recognized from hearing Jarrett play it in the background—not that she knew enough about it to know what the lyrics were about. But she didn’t need to for the fresh sound to help put her at ease, especially since Jarrett had put the track on repeat. Soon the song became a familiar pattern, one that kept her thoughts from racing wildly out of control. She had gotten so caught up in trying to understand how to pronounce the words that she almost didn’t catch the spoken words from the front seat.

“Well, look at that,” Izaya said, his English breaking Karellen from her reverie. She blinked back to the darkness of evening, pulling the earbud from her ear, and Jarrett groaned as he sat back up in his seat. The world around them was mostly dark, but there was a building in the distance, its lights blinking like a beacon. “Our little road trip is just about at an end.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to ThornVineLily for the lovely comment and your kudos! Extra thanks to everyone for reading!


	12. Infiltration

**Ragnarok**

By: Aviantei

12

Infiltration

* * *

Amongst the dark of the night, the CMA’s headquarters was lit up brightly, almost taking on the appearance of some suspicious facility straight out of a sci-fi flick. Jarret Gist didn’t have the clear state of mind to appreciate that irony, nor the fact that he was having the chance to stretch after long hours tucked in the backseat of a car. Hell, he didn’t even have time to feel nervous about the upcoming infiltration they’d be conducting on the CMA. The headquarters complex was a mere couple of miles away, while Jarret’s guts were still twisted up in an awful worry that Colleen hadn’t been successful in fighting off their pursuer.

Karellen might have been the one with the most obviously flexible Reality Alter under her belt, but Colleen had shown time and time again that she had creative ways to use her abilities—and yet she still hadn’t caught up with them. Even though Jarret had extended a but of comfort to Karellen while they were in the car, it was a lot harder to have hope when they hadn’t heard word from Col in several hours.

The landscape around them didn’t offer much in the way of cover, but they’d managed to park the car in a place that wasn’t immediately obvious from the road. Jarrett did his best to go through his warm up stretches, but he was more on autopilot than anything. Near the front of the car, Izaya was stretching with his arms up and his back curved, looking almost like a cat. The tip of Shizuo’s cigarette pulsed in a hot red flare, though the open space kept the scent of smoke from becoming overpowering. Karellen was leaning against the car, though she’d left the backseat door open to let the inside light shine out better. She had started to scribble out some instructions presumably for her next Alter, and she had her brow furrowed in an intense concentration as she almost forced the words into being on the page.

On one hand, it was good that Karellen had managed to keep her calm enough to approach the situation ahead of them. On the other, it meant that Karellen had zoned in on the task so hard that she’d be prone to forgetting things that mattered the most.

_We’re not doing this again, no way._

Tugging his beanie into place, Jarrett unceremoniously dropped himself into the car seat beside Karellen, making sure to have enough force in the movement to bounce the car. Karellen jolted, years of practice of dealing with unwanted interruptions allowing her to pull back her hand so it didn’t draw an angry line across the page. She turned to Jarret with a glare, but her expression broke upon meeting his steady gaze.

“Easy there, Kar,” he said, keeping his voice low. Shizuo and Izaya weren’t paying them much attention, instead choosing to keep their distance from each other. “You told me before to warn me if you were doing that thing again, so I’m just making good on that promise.”

There was a beat of silence before Karellen processed what he was talking about. “I wasn’t—”

“You were, and it’s not good for you, remember?” It wasn’t good for anyone else, either, but bringing that up only solved part of the problem. Karellen glanced down to the shadows that the car cast over the ground, clicking her pen in a slow, almost measured rhythm. Jarret dropped his own hands to hang between his widespread legs. “Don’t you dare start depersonalizing other people, you hear me? Especially Col.” He didn’t give a damn about himself at the end of the day, but Col deserved better, and Karellen damn well knew it. “I know our main objective is to get those two back home, but don’t you dare forget we’re _all_ going back where we belong, got it?”

Karellen opened her mouth one more time in protest, but she snapped it shut as her thoughts caught up to her. Even her hand stalled on the switch of her pen, and she sucked in a few deep breaths to reorient her thoughts. Knowing that pressuring her to hurry back would just drop them straight back to step one, Jarrett waited, humming the melody line of the song they’d been listening to together in his mind. His Reality Alter buzzed at the possibility, but Jarrett didn’t let his ability activate.

“Okay,” Karellen said after Jarret was about halfway through the second verse. “Okay, right, I’ve got it. We can do this, and it’ll all work out in the end.” She adjusted her glasses and looked back to Jarret with a smile. “So long as we can imagine a good ending, it can still happen. That’s the best use of our powers, right?”

Jarret was about to give a response when Izaya crossed his arms and leaned atop the still open car door. The limited light cast an appropriately dramatic and unsettling set of shadows over his expression—not that it stopped the trouble-making glint in his eyes. “Now, now, what are we whispering about over here? You’re not in very good form today, Karellen-chan; first you don’t share your snacks, then you try to hide secrets.”

Karellen snapped back to her feigned rigid demeanor that was just a shield for her internal fangirl embarrassment. “There’s this awesome thing called ‘keeping your voices down so as not to attract the attention of the base you’re about to infiltrate.’ Perhaps you’ve heard of it?”

“Oh, please,” Izaya said, also not skipping a beat. “If talking at a normal speaking volume were enough to bring the CMA down on us, we would’ve been surrounded already.” Jarret couldn’t quite decide if he appreciated his front-row seat to Karellen trying not to trip over herself or if it would be better to slip out the driver’s side door so he wouldn’t get caught in the crossfire. “While I’ll admit that you’ve helped us survive plenty of scrapes so far, it’s still your fault we got dragged into this mess in the first place, Karellen-chan. I do believe we deserve some answers.”

Shizuo wandered his way over as well, the surrounding shadows making his tall form look even more intimidating. “I hate to admit it, but the Flea is right.” He sighed, apparently having made it through his latest cigarette, as there was no beacon of ash near his hands. “You’ve said a lot of stuff about how you know the way to get us home, but you haven’t said a word about it. You two whispering to yourselves isn’t doing us much good.”

Karellen grimaced, looking down by the sudden scolding; Jarrett didn’t have the heart to tease her for getting so worked up. “I’m sorry that everything’s been such a clusterfuck that explaining the whole system that tore a whole in the space time continuum hasn’t exactly been a priority.”

“Yeah, and you’re the ones that forgot about your hidden mics and lead the enemy straight to Col’s place,” Jarret said, jumping to Karellen’s support. “So why don’t you cut Kar some slack?” He gave her a quick smile as reassurance that, no matter how much tunnel vision she could get, he’d still have her back.

Shizuo made a noncommittal grunt and looked away into the dark. Izaya, while he dropped the point, didn’t look nearly as cowed. “In any event,” he said, tapping his fingers along the car window, “we don’t seem to be on anyone’s radar, so we have some time to strategize. I think it would do us all some good if we know what we’re looking for before we start this mission.”

Karellen switched back into her game mode, probably emboldened by the fact that she knew something that Orihara Izaya didn’t. “Alright, let’s start back where we were getting to before we left Colleen’s. As Jarrett mentioned, this whole ‘Neutralization’ thing the CMA has been doing is total bullshit. There’s no such thing as Chaos and Purity—well, at least not the way you guys look at it.”

Jarrett nodded and jumped in. “It’s all one force. ‘Course, we really don’t have a name for it, so ‘Chaos’ works fine. The point of the mess is that imagination isn’t good or bad by default. Whoever’s in charge on your end just needed a decent reason to collect a ton of it, so what better way then to make it out to be something bad?”

“Hold on just a minute,” Shizuo said, sounding more confused than angry. If he wanted to light up another cigarette, he held off on it. “We haven’t been collecting a damn thing. All we do is use our gear to cancel out one force with another, then we trade in the drained cartridges for new ones. That’s how it works.”

“That’s what they want you to think, Heiwajima-san,” Karellen said, keeping her tone even. “Think about it: what evidence do you have that Chaos and Purity work like what the CMA says? Can you actually see the two, or are you just basing it on what your CMA technology tells you?”

Shizuo opened his mouth but didn’t seem to have a retort to the logic and closed his mouth back up with a huff. Izaya had a hand to his chin, nodding. “Ah, so then whenever we were turning in our gear to restock it with ‘Purity,’ all we were really doing was emptying out the Chaos so we could refill it again.”

Karellen and Jarrett nodded in unison, but Shizuo was still frowning. “You’re seriously going to believe it just like that, Flea?”

“I’m just following the theory in case it turns out to be anything worthwhile. You wouldn’t understand that complex level of thought, Shizu-chan.” Izaya leaned a bit further over the car door, glancing at Karellen with a smirk on his face. “Besides, I have every ounce of confidence that our lovely Karellen-chan wouldn’t lie to us over something like this.”

Karellen must have been blushing, because she refused to look Izaya’s direction. Jarrett picked up the slack and pointed in the direction where the CMA’s headquarters was glowing in the dark. “Point being is that, somewhere in your base is a massive stockpile of Chaos that we can use. With that much power behind us, we can send you back home.” Sure, that plan involved having Colleen back on their side, but Jarrett was holding out hope that she’d make their way to them, one way or another.

“I see, I see.” Though his words suggested skepticism, Izaya’s grin was a sure sign that he’d go along with the plan whether it was true or not, just to see the results. He clapped his hands together and stood up straight. “I’ve hacked through a decent amount of the CMA’s database, so I’m certain there are hidden areas not on the regular map. If all else fails, we have two Reality Alter users, plus Shizu-chan’s brute strength. We’ll work something out.” Without waiting for anyone else, he turned on his heel and started to walk away from the car. “No time like the present, then. Maybe taking some action can make you two stop worrying about pointless things like that little friend of yours’ safety.”

“Dammit, Flea, don’t start running off on your own!” Shizuo grumbled and caught up to Izaya’s side in a handful of long-legged strides before looking over his shoulder. “Come on, you kids can’t lag behind either.”

Jarrett took a moment to register that Izaya had known what they were talking about and had just been nettling them for the hell of it before standing up, shoving his hand into his pocket to confirm that his MP3 player was at the ready. “Have I ever told you how goddamn awful your taste in men is, Kar?”

“_Hush_,” Karellen growled, slamming the car door shut behind them.

* * *

Based on everything that Jarrett knew about the CMA, he had expected making it inside the facility would be a difficult process, and he had been half right.

Looking in at the building from the entrance had only shown a guarded security checkpoint, while there wasn’t much else to prevent people from stepping foot on the property—at least as far as Jarrett could tell. The fact that Izaya and Shizuo hadn’t decided to just drive right in seemed to be evidence enough that things wouldn’t be that simple.

Izaya stood at the forefront of their little group, just outside of the sight of the security checkpoint. “If I were the higher ups, I’d be on high-alert for my missing assets to come back home,” he said, peering at the building. “It’s a bit unfortunate we can’t just slip our way in from the front, but there isn’t too much of a high alert system in the building since they don’t really expect people to find it. I don’t think we’ll be able to get into any hidden Chaos reserves once we’re in there, but so long as we can skirt around the front, we shouldn’t have too many issues.”

Jarrett had his concerns about that assessment, but he didn’t bother saying them out loud—mostly because Shizuo got there first: “And you know all that because?”

“Did I not make it clear that I haven’t just been sitting around and mooching off the CMA? I dug into their information network and looked up everything I could, naturally.”

“Alright, so how do we get in, then?” Jarrett asked, trying to see if there was a plan in the whole mess. “Better yet, once we _do_ get in, how are we supposed to get around anywhere?”

Izaya spun on his heel to face the rest of them. “Not a bad question. Naturally, I memorized the whole of the map, so I should have no issue with putting together the places that are most likely to have this chaos store you’re talking about. Though since Shizu-chan and I don’t have our gear anymore, we will need new access cards. Karellen-chan, I’m leaving that up to you.”

Karellen grimaced but flipped open her notebook anyway. “If you’re asking for physical cards, I hope you don’t want too many of those. Completely conjuring something out of nowhere is gonna take up a decent chunk of my energy.”

Jarrett’s Alter didn’t have the same capabilities, but he knew just how such a request would impact Karellen, and he wasn’t a fan of having her worn down so much right from the start. “What about hijacking someone else’s card and using that? Wouldn’t that save us the trouble?” If it involved taking someone down, Jarrett could handle that much without becoming exhausted himself.

“Well if one of your Agents went out of communication and then you saw their card being used at a certain location when you were expecting an infiltration, wouldn’t you know exactly how to find your enemy?” Izaya said. Jarrett gave Karellen an apologetic look, but she just shook her head, accepting it. Though he already missed Col, the absence of her presence in a situation that was asking for her powers was painfully obvious. “I’ll limit the number of cards to four so we can rotate between them and not leave an obvious trail. Can you handle that much?”

It was only because he was standing so close that Jarrett was able to see Karellen’s jaw tighten in the dark. “I’ll make it happen,” she said. “Knowing you, Izaya, you already have certain card IDs in mind?”

“Very clever. Yes, I set up a few dummy authorization codes, so we can take advantage of those. Let’s see, the numbers we’ll need this time are…” Izaya and Karellen retreated into a brief conference where he borrowed her notebook for a moment, presumably to write down the required numbers. Left with Shizuo, Jarrett looked up at the CMA Headquarters once more.

“Man, are we really going to be able to get in this place…?”

“Yeah, we should,” Shizuo said, his deep voice catching Jarrett off guard, seeing as he hadn’t been expecting an answer. Shizuo glanced up. “Some of the higher floors have balcony areas to them. I’m pretty sure Izaya intends for us to jump our way out there.”

“You can’t be for real.” Jarrett squinted, trying to catch sight of something that didn’t look too far from the ground. He wasn’t successful. “I know you two are like freaks of nature, but Kar and I are a bit more fragile than that. Just how high up are we talking…?”

“Only about six stories,” Izaya said, freshly brandishing a handful of dark-colored security cards. Karellen had her notebook back in her possession, hugging it almost like it was a stuffed animal. Izaya didn’t give Jarrett any time to voice his concern. “If we’re going to do this, we might as well get moving. I’d rather not waste any more time. Shizu-chan, think you can make it while bringing our little friends along?”

Jarrett took a step back, holding up his hands. “Oh, no, no, no, you are not gonna haul me like some sack of potatoes for _six fucking flights—ggk!_”

Showing surprisingly little concern for Jarrett’s protests, Shizuo’s long arm had already caught Jarrett around the waist and had a tight grip on him. Karellen’s expression couldn’t seem to settle on whether to laugh or feel sorry for him. Shizuo glanced to her. “It’ll probably be a lot easier if I still have a hand free. I can piggyback you.”

“R-right.” Karellen stepped closer, and Shizuo squatted, letting her up onto his back. Jarrett was too busy feeling nauseous to complain about preferential treatment. She must’ve gotten a good grip, because Jarrett’s vision shifted as Shizuo stood up again. “Is this okay, Heiwajima-san?”

“Yeah, just hold on tight, okay?”

_What sort of dumb scenario is this?_ Jarrett thought, pressing a hand to his MP3 player in this pocket. Izaya clapped his hands together, as if to start off the mission. “Looks like we’re ready to go. A running start this big should be enough. I’m trusting that monster body of yours to keep up, Shizu-chan.”

“Tch. Shut up and start running.”

Izaya’s laughter was the only sound for a minute, and Jarrett stopped caring as the world around him lurched. Karellen let out a muffled shriek at the sudden burst of speed, and the grass below them became clearer the closer to the light of the CMA they got—and then the entire world underneath them shifted as Shizuo jumped, and Jarret closed his eyes as the ground became further and further away.


	13. Apart

**Ragnarok**

By: Aviantei

13

Apart

* * *

Karellen clung onto Shizuo’s shoulders for dear life, torn between burying her face in his back or keeping her eyes wide open. For all intents and purposes, the world had shifted sideways and upside down as Shizuo effortlessly scaled the side of the building, Izaya’s figure already rushing ahead, his dark suit making him almost blend into the night sky above. Karellen’s own heart beat wildly in her chest. By the time she’d gotten used to the sensation, Shizuo had already jumped once again, landing effortlessly on the terrace they’d been aiming for. Jarrett hung limply from Shizuo’s arm, and Karellen wouldn’t have been surprised if his soul slipped right out of his body.

Shizuo seemed to notice it, too, and he deposited Jarrett in a nearby chair, which was metal and matched the small table it was next to. It seemed that this balcony was some sort of recreational area, as there were several more tables scattered about. Maybe they used the area for their lunch breaks whenever the weather was nice out?

“You gonna be okay to get down?” Shizuo asked, and Karellen blinked back to reality. Her heartbeat hadn’t slowed down in the slightest, and Shizuo’s deep voice sent a vibration straight to her chest. Wishing that things had been happening in way more favorable circumstances (and scolding herself for thinking such a thing when they had work to do), Karellen nodded and slipped down to the ground, managing to catch herself on slightly shaky legs. Shizuo glanced at her as if to check she was really okay, then started to walk off towards Izaya whenever she didn’t topple over.

Karellen forced herself to focus and stepped closer to Jarrett so she could shake his shoulder. “I know you’re not good with heights, but come on. We’re gonna make ourselves targets if we sit still for too long.” Jarrett let out a groan, and Karellen dug into his jacket pocket, finding the MP3 player in a matter of moments. Returning his gesture from earlier, she pressed an earbud into his ear and pressed play, hoping that whatever was on would be enough for him to get his energy back. “Jar…”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll live.” Jarrett held out his hand, and Karellen honored the unspoken request for his MP3 back. His fingers pressed at the buttons with practiced ease before he slipped it back into his pocket. “Let’s go catch up with our out of world guests before your darling Izaya starts spouting out his BS again.”

_You’re not letting that one go, are you? _Karellen fell into step with Jarrett as they started to cross the terrace. Izaya and Shizuo were already at the far wall, where there was a door that lead inside. Squinting through the dark, Karellen didn’t notice anything like a card reader, and Izaya pulled open the door without needing to do anything special, as far as she could tell. Wherever they were entering into, no lights seemed to be on, either, so maybe they would have a clean entrance, after all.

“Oh, yeah, this looks inviting,” Jarrett said, intentionally raising his voice so Izaya and Shizuo would hear—not that it seemed to do anything to rile them up. “What’s hidden on the other side of the door? Some spooky CMA lab or something?”

Shizuo let out a short snort that took Karellen a moment to recognize as laughter. “It’s just a break room with a fridge.”

“If you come up with outlandish scenarios like that, it’s no wonder you managed to become a BUN level target,” Izaya said, not wasting anymore time in heading inside. There must have been a motion sensor, as the lights switched on as he did so, and the sudden glow of fluorescence was almost blinding. “This room doesn’t have much security, so it’s probably the safest entryway point. The trick is getting ourselves to wherever your supposed Chaos stores are.”

“Leave it to me,” Jarrett said, his hand twitching in his pocket. “I can use my Alter to get a feel for the atmosphere first, then I can point us in the right direction.”

Izaya raised an eyebrow. “And how does that work?”

Jarrett grinned as they finished filing their way inside. The décor seemed deceptively normal, like it would have fit into any ordinary office building. “None of your business.” Karellen rolled her eyes, but was glad that Jarrett was feeling better, nonetheless.

“Let’s cut the chit chat and get moving,” Shizuo said, the calm in his voice starting to become strained. It was admirable how he managed to keep his temper under control, but an angry Shizuo would not make for a successful infiltration by any means. “Flea, with the way you were talking, you have an idea where this stuff is. Which way do we go?”

“Yes, yes, I’ll take point if you all insist.” Izaya pointed towards the door. “We’re a bit away from it, but there’s an elevator close by on this floor. Whenever I first looked up the schematics for the place, nothing stuck out to me as weird based on the outside of the building. So I’m willing to bet we’ll find what we’re looking for underground.”

Karellen couldn’t help but glance at the tiled floor, even though she knew it held no answers. Then again, unless it was in the hands of someone who could pull off a Reality Alter, Chaos wouldn’t react in any drastic ways. It wasn’t like the CMA had to worry about the stock of it blowing out the foundation. “So we work our way to the elevator and hope it has a path downstairs?” she asked, trying to follow Izaya’s logic.

“It’s our best bet if we want to do this without causing a big mess and attracting any attention. Of course, if all else fails, we could have Shizu-chan smash us a pathway into the basement and see if that helps us get where we want.”

“Watch it, Flea.”

“Sheesh, we’ve gone this far without you two trying to murder each other. Can we not start now?” Jarrett asked, a slight edge to his voice. He must’ve still been worried over Colleen. Jarrett jerked his thumb towards the door. “In case you’ve forgotten, we can’t get you guys home unless we get your Chaos reserves.” _Or get Col back,_ Karellen thought, but didn’t say. “I’m not gonna cover you idiots if we get caught because you can’t keep your mouths shut.”

Shizuo had the presence of mind to look ashamed, holding a hand to the back of his head. Izaya just seemed to be growing more delighted by the moment, but he did put his hand on the doorknob. “Yes, yes, we’ll head for the elevator. Single file line, everyone, don’t get separated from the rest of the group.”

Though the instructions had probably been a joke, they fell in line anyways as they stepped out into the hallway. Jarrett was impatient enough that he followed first, followed by Karellen as Shizuo insisted on taking the rear. Both the carpet and the walls were variations on blue, but even the sight of a color she enjoyed didn’t take away the sense of worry that Karellen felt. The CMA had managed to send someone after them despite how much ground they’d covered, and yet no one was reacting to the group arriving in the middle of their own base?

_It can’t be this easy, can it?_

As they made it to the elevator without any hassle, Karellen decided that she wouldn’t look a gift horse in a mouth and instead react to trouble when it inevitably came. Izaya pressed the call button and waited with his hands in his pockets—looking calm, but probably having a hold on some knife or another. For everything she could accomplish with her Alter, close combat wasn’t one of those things, and Karellen did a quick glance of the hallway for appropriate cover, settling on running into the nearest doorway if necessary.

When the elevator slid open to reveal absolutely no one, the whole procession deflated with tension. Izaya gestured inside the doors. “In we go. It’d be pointless to get caught just because we’re standing around.”

Even with Shizuo’s height, there was plenty of room inside the elevator for all four of them and some area to spare. The new surroundings didn’t change much in color scheme and for all the world looked like an ordinary elevator—except for the keypad. Where there would normally be physical buttons, the display appeared to be a touchpad, and a card reader was beside it. Izaya tapped the doors shut button before swiping one of the cards Karellen had made. A few options appeared on the screen, and he selected one that she couldn’t read as Izaya continued to work with the controls.

“What’s that supposed to do?” Karellen asked, hands twitching to write something to gain control of the situation, even if she couldn’t use her Alter without permission.

“I’m keeping anyone else from getting into this elevator.” With a few more button presses, the elevator shifted, starting to sink down. “The lowest we can go is down to the basement level, which isn’t very exciting. Though if I had to guess, we’ll find our way further down from there.”

“Yeah, assuming there is a place further down,” Jarrett said. He had taken to leaning against the wall, arms crossed, and was bouncing his foot. “I mean, even if you were trying to keep a secret base, I wouldn’t wanna walk down a bunch of stairs just to get there. I’d just connect it to the main elevator.”

Izaya frowned. “I’d assume that, too, but I did replicate a high access level card.” He stepped aside enough to let them see the control panel, and it didn’t show anything deeper than the basement. “We’d be able to see it from here. I’m willing to bet that there’s a different entryway, instead.”

“Maybe,” Karellen said, mulling the problem over. She had a weird feeling in her chest, one that she usually only got around Jarrett and Colleen, whenever they— “Unless there’s a Reality Alter in place. You can trick people who look at certain information into seeing something completely different, like how me, Jarrett, and Col all made our Chaos numbers look lower than they are. We didn’t change the database; we just shifted how our numbers would read.”

“Hold up,” Shizuo said, sounding exasperated. “How the hell would there be some Alter or whatever there in the first place? Why would you even bother with something like that?” He didn’t seem ready to hear an actual answer, but Karellen’s mind was already racing.

“Because it’s one of the best ways to keep something hidden without having to worry about the practical logistics. You can build everything normal, then just hide what you want from people that aren’t supposed to see it. With the Chaos that’s stored here, it would be pretty easy to pull that off. I mean, even if there isn’t a hidden access on the elevator, I’m willing to bet that the real way in is hidden the same way.” She started to flip through her notebook for a blank page. “If you authorize it, I can go ahead and send out a counter so that it falls apart and—"

“Easy there, Kar,” Jarrett said, covering her hand with his own. “You’re worn down enough. I can handle canceling out some other Alter. Let me do something useful already, would you?” Karellen checked herself and nodded. Jarrett pushed himself off the wall and stepped around Izaya. “Move it.” Before Izaya could give a retort, Jarrett had already popped his earbuds in and cranked the volume up, loud enough that the faint sound of music leaked through.

Karellen was probably the only one that felt the pressure of Jarrett’s Alter taking effect, but Izaya stood by, scrutinizing the elevator panel. Though he stayed out of the immediate way, Shizuo raised an eyebrow, as if instinctually sensing something. The buzzing sensation in Karellen’s chest intensified as the forces of two Alters pushed against each other.

A few minutes passed with only the sound of Jarrett’s music playing. The buzzing of the Alters was still happening, even as the elevator drew to a stop. The doors didn’t open, probably due to the command Izaya had put in earlier. Karellen wondered if she should go ahead and write something anyway, just to help, whenever Jarrett tossed up his arms and let out an enthusiastic shout. “Ha, take that!”

“Fascinating,” Izaya said, quickly pulling a card from his pocket and swiping it anew. Drawn by curiosity, Karellen stepped closer to see what was happening, Shizuo close behind her. The display was once again showing the floor numbers, and there were several new indicators of levels beneath them. However, whenever Izaya tried to select the basement floor beneath them, the button didn’t respond. He cycled through all four of the access cards, but got the same result every time, and returned them to his pockets with a click of his tongue. “Well we have our path, but we can’t take the conventional way it seems. I’d say our quickest route is to leave the elevator out of it and head down the shaft ourselves.”

“_Great_,” Jarrett said, his voice thick with sarcasm. Karellen patted his shoulder. “Whatever, let’s just get this over with, dammit.”

With a few more commands input on the console, the doors opened up and they filed into the basement, which was dim with the glow of the security lights. Izaya sent the elevator back up, and they waited for the sound to retreat before Shizuo stepped forward. Looking all the world like he was handling nothing heavier than a plank of wood, he pushed his fingers into the crack between the elevator doors and pushed them open. The shaft had maintenance lights on, but even then it was difficult to see just how far down it went.

“Seems doable,” Izaya said, peering down into the gloom. His voice had a faint echo to it. _Yeah, for out of control guys like you two._ “It’ll be easier if we go ahead and just drop straight to the bottom so we can get into the door.” Finished conveying the strategy, he jumped straight towards the opposite wall, managing a number of flips in the process before the distance made him go mostly out of sight.

“Sure, he makes it look fucking easy,” Jarrett said under his breath. He sucked in air through his nose. “Okay, okay, I think I can handle this one. Just gimme a sec…” His muttering shifted into humming, and the sensation of his Alter came into Karellen’s awareness once more. Whatever mental image he was focusing on seemed to do the trick, as he was soon able to make the jump as well and start scaling down the walls, though with much less finesse than Izaya had. That left Karellen and Shizuo as the last one’s left.

“Um, Heiwajima-san…?”

“Yeah, I got you.”

Once more, Karellen situated herself on Shizuo’s back, and they were off. The sensation of her stomach dropping out from beneath her was far worse than the feeling of scaling _up_ a building, and that time she slammed her eyes shut. Between the starts and stops of Shizuo gaining a temporary foothold before taking off again, it felt like a very rickety roller coaster. She almost didn’t recognize that they’d hit solid ground when the latest drop only lasted for a few feet. Daring to open her eyes, they had in fact made it to the bottom of the elevator shaft.

Getting down was much more difficult than it had been the first time, what with nausea starting to twist up her stomach. Jarrett seemed to be doing a bit better than before, if only because he’d been in control of himself that time. Izaya looked as unaffected as ever, and Karellen hated the stupid smirk on his face as she used the wall to support herself.

Shizuo first took a short pause to stretch out his fingers, then he pulled open the doors once more, leaving hand shaped dents in the metal. Karellen blinked the fresh light out of her eyes, the constant switching almost enough to leave her with a headache. The fiery red décor that awaited in the new section of the building didn’t help much, but she forced herself to suck it up as she tried to orient herself. If she didn’t know better, the overall design wouldn’t have looked out of place in a high-class hotel hallway. Again, there wasn’t anyone waiting to intercept them, which seemed even stranger as they were in what was supposedly a secret part of the base.

“Smells like shit,” Shizuo said under his breath.

Then a speaker system above crackled to life.

“Hello and welcome,” said a voice that Karellen didn’t recognize in the slightest but seemed close to an alto. “I was wondering if you’d all manage to make it here or not. Ordinary security is one thing, but it takes some chops to get around a Manipulation like that. Well done.

“Oh, but I suppose there’s no point in talking when we’ll have plenty of time for that later. Right now, you’re all a bit inconvenient to have together, so I’ll be taking the liberty of splitting you up for a while, alright?”

Karellen started to process the sensations before she fully registered the words. The buzzing in her chest was back, strong enough to indicate an Alter of comparable size. Blackness started to seep into her vision, but it was from the lights around them going out, not her fading consciousness. Jarrett’s voice shouted something that sounded like her name, and a fainter buzz of his Alter started to rise. Karellen tried to reach out for him, but a rough hand grabbed onto her arm instead. Then there was the jerking sensation in her gut of transportation, and she lost consciousness to the smell of cigarette smoke.


	14. Separate

**Ragnarok**

By: Aviantei

14

Separate

* * *

Colleen hated that she came back to consciousness feeling like she’d taken nothing more than a nap. Sure, it was a nap that had gone on a little bit too long for her tastes, but she still felt rested and her body felt just the faintest bit stiff—not the deeper pain that she _should _have been dealing with since she’d been on the unfortunate end of her own Reality Alter getting tossed back at her. If she didn’t know better, Colleen could have imagined herself popping out of bed and going ferreting for a snack.

But the world was dark and there was the harsh beating of helicopter blades in the air, and she knew she wasn’t at home. Hell, she wasn’t even the _victor_ of the fight she’d chosen to take on.

_How am I supposed to look cool when I can’t even pull off the “You guys go on ahead and leave this one to me” shtick?_

She almost laughed; looking cool wasn’t even close to being her utmost concern. She could feel the restraints on around her wrists and ankles, and any of the familiar weight of the handheld consoles she kept with her were gone. She was definitely captured by the enemy, and they knew her ability well enough to keep away anything that she could use to escape.

_So that all sucks. But it’s not game over yet. I have plenty of lives left for a continue._

Colleen gave her eyes several moments to adjust to the darkness. The faint glow of lights from the helicopter’s control board gave her an idea of what direction to face, and she pulled herself up into the best sit she could muster will still in restraints, taking care to be quiet—for what little it mattered. Out the front window there was pretty much nothing but the night sky and darkness, not a single trace of civilization to give her a clue of where they were.

If they weren’t using one of noisiest forms of transportation known to man, Colleen would have tried to talk to the pilot, see what she could figure out, but there wasn’t going to be much luck on that front. The longer the flight continued, the more Colleen’s worry built. She had to be in CMA custody, which meant she was likely on course for its Headquarters. And while Jarret and Karellen were headed that way, Colleen couldn’t make herself relax at the idea of a reunion.

_They had a way to counter me, even though Jar and I hid our Chaos levels. It’s probably not Oliver, but someone at the CMA knows a lot about us. Even if Kar and Jar infiltrate the place safely, there’s a chance they could get caught, too, and then we’d be in big trouble._

Not just because the CMA would want to use them, but then they couldn’t get Izaya and Shizuo back home, and that was just asking for—

The touchdown of the helicopter wasn’t a crash landing by any means, but the reconnection to the ground sent a lurch through Colleen’s stomach; she’d been so busy thinking about worst case scenarios that she hadn’t noticed the lights of the building in the dark or the descent in altitude. Reminding herself that there wouldn’t be the need to troubleshoot the worst case scenario if she could change the destruction flags on her end.

Colleen sucked in a breath and gave herself the mental equivalent of a smack to the cheeks. _Game on._

It didn’t take long for the helicopter blades to stop chopping up the air, and the resulting silence made Colleen’s ears ring. She could put up with it. The landing area had descent lighting, and even from her limited vantage point it was obvious no one else had come to help with transporting their captive. Stupid, much like everything else the CMA was doing, but exceptionally so.

_Either this is my big break or it’s a well-executed trap, and I can’t let this opportunity to go to waste if it’s the first one._

CMA agents had this silly idea that most of their targets weren’t harmful in any way other than the latent affects their Chaos had. Even with so-called Chaos Manipulators, the assumption was take away their capacity to use their Reality Alter, and the problem was solved. Colleen’s pastel colored wardrobe and overall hyper demeanor tended to reinforce that assumption, and Colleen was okay with that, because it made it that much easier to catch her enemies off guard.

Colleen adjusted into the optimal position to slam her head into the CMA agent’s nose at the soonest available opportunity. Bound or not, she could at least make enough of a fuss to let the others know she was nearby. She squinted through the shadows, waiting for the right moment, but just when she was about to strike, she recognized the agent approaching her.

To no surprise, it was the one who’d fought her, but that wasn’t what caught her off guard. “Oliver,” she said, recalling the name from her Reality Alter display—and from a bit farther back. “Oliver Grewal, right?” Colleen knew that she got it right from the way he stiffened up. Though she was trying to keep her cool, the laugh spilled out of her anyways. “Lucky me.”

“What is it with you BUN targets and always knowing my name?” Oliver asked, looking unnerved. Colleen tucked that information away; he must’ve dealt with Karellen, but she hadn’t noticed. Unsurprising, considering how bad she was with names. “No, it doesn’t matter. Just please stop talking and let me take you to the boss so I can get this over with.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I like that option.” Taking a moment to adjust her balance, Colleen sat up as straight as she could, leaning towards Oliver’s face to make him even more uncomfortable. She succeeded, judging by the way he pulled back. “Besides, are you sure you actually want to take me to your boss? I’m pretty sure you and I have a whole lot to talk about.”

“We _don’t_.” Oliver reached for Colleen’s arm, trying to get her to stand and follow him to wherever was so important. She let him do it, but she didn’t have any plans whatsoever to go quietly. “You are dangerous, and I am doing my job, and you’re going to come with me. Because guess what? You can’t use your Chaos Manipulation to overpower me, and even if you could, my equipment is better than yours.”

Yeah, maybe he had a point about that, but Colleen felt pretty confident in her chances of getting what she wanted. _It’s not like I just play fighting games. I know when to use a little diplomacy—or manipulation._ “Come on, Oliver, you know that’s not true,” she said, even as he guided her away from the helipad and towards the closest visible door. From the rooftop, there wasn’t another visible building for as far as she could see, which maybe wasn’t the best judge since her glasses were askew on her face. “I’m not the most dangerous thing here.”

“You’re right; your friend has higher levels than you.” Oliver kept his voice short and curt, but Colleen just rolled her eyes. “I don’t know what you think you can accomplish by talking this over with me.”

“Oh, I can accomplish plenty.” She just needed the right opening—which she was glad to note had just happened. “Oliver, you already know that there’s more danger than just a trio of kids who can manipulate ‘Chaos.’ Your precious mentor told you all about it.” There it was; at the mention of his mentor, Oliver stopped dead short in his advance, though he’d just been about to reach for the door handle. _Check._ “Are you really just going to pretend what she mentioned was all a lie?”

Oliver rounded on her, trying to look angry, but only coming across as vulnerable. He couldn’t have been more than a few years older than Karellen. “You don’t have any idea of what you’re talking about!”

If it weren’t for her bindings, Colleen would have crossed her arms. “Of course I do. Everything your mentor told you before was true.

“Why else would they have discharged her from the CMA?”

* * *

When Jarret opened his eyes, it felt like he was hung-over, which was a funny thing to think since he’d never once been drunk in his life. But there was a sense of lethargy and sickness weaving through him, and the headache hurt like a bitch inside his skull, and for all intents and purposes it felt like what he _imagined_ being hungover felt like, which overall just sucked balls.

He hadn’t passed out, though. One second, he’d been in the hall with Karellen and the others, then the buzzing sensation of a Reality Alter kicked in, and the grand finale had him lying on the floor. From his vantage point, the décor looked the same as it had been, but the elevator wasn’t there, and it didn’t look like there were any other doors, in sight, either.

“Trapped in a fucking box with no way out. My _favorite_.”

“You sure do give up easy, don’t you?” There was no way Jarrett _couldn’t_ know that voice with how many times Karellen had put on _Durarara!!_ in the background. Sure enough, when he sat up, Izaya was a few feet away, already standing and scoping out their surroundings. Jarret didn’t even bother to conceal his groan. Izaya took the opportunity to pout. “Now that’s rude. How unfair. Karellen-chan would have been much happier to see me.”

“Karellen also has horrible taste in fictional characters.” Jarret was allowed to call her out, because he had to admit he was the same—Orihara Izaya was just not in his range of preference. Standing up, Jarret tried to figure out the best way to go, but all he saw was a bend on both ends of the hall. He sighed and shouted up at the ceiling. “How did you know that trapped in a fucking box with a sociopath is exactly how I want to spend a Friday night?!”

“Well, it’s certainly one of _my_ favorite past times that I haven’t been able to indulge in for quite some time.” Izaya sounded rather chipper, and Jarret would have kicked the man then and there if it wouldn’t be a massive waste of time. “But we should at least be productive while we’re at it. No sense in splitting up since our numbers have already been divided. We should pick a direction and see where it takes us.”

Jarret raised an eyebrow. “And let random chance decide our fate? No thanks.” While the Reality Alter had transported them into an unfavorable situation, his MP3 player was still there, headphones and all, and for Jarret, that meant there were options. He stuffed an earbud into his ear and started flipping through the tracks. “I can just dowse for the Chaos readings, and we can take that path.”

“As fun as it would be to refuse just to see how you’d react, I’ll agree. It’s not like I won’t have time to play around with humans again once I’m back home.”

Jarret tuned out Izaya’s chatter and focused on his music. He didn’t know how to explain the mechanics of his Reality Alter in concrete details. Karellen used words as her medium to literally write out the changes she wanted on the world. Colleen mapped game scenarios to real life and used the familiar mechanics as a framework for what she wanted to know or accomplish. For Jarret, he just sort of listened and…_felt_.

He guessed it was similar to using music as inspiration to create new ideas. Different songs had different feelings, and Jarret channeled those into his Alter to get results. As far as he was concerned, it didn’t matter how the process worked as long as it had the right result at the end—and it was providing successful directions: going left from the direction he was facing.

“This way,” he said, keeping one earbud out so he could hear if anything approached. However, the only sound was that of his and Izaya’s footsteps. It was a hard toss up if that was the better or worse result.

They’d continued walking for a few minutes, Jarret reconfirming directions anytime they hit a fresh bend or intersection, whenever Izaya decided that he wasn’t going to let the trip continue in silence. “So, do tell me, does Karellen’s awful taste just apply to fictional characters, or would you say that applies to reality as well?”

Jarret snorted. “What, you worried she’ll be less obsessed with you since you’re flesh and blood now?” Though he’d been meaning to be snarky, Jarret rounded on Izaya seconds later. “Listen, if you even try to _think_ about doing anything to Kar—”

“You’ll not follow through on whatever threat you were about to make since it would probably disrupt the universe that you’re trying to put back together by sending Shizu-chan and I home?” Izaya asked without needing to pause for breath. Jarret hated that Izaya was right, and the smirk just intensified the feeling. “While it’s adorable that you’re worried, I’m actually far more interested in what the three of you do to each other. I can’t decide if you’re all a collected unit, or if you’re just dancing around each other’s feelings and making things awkward for yourselves.” Jarret started enough to press the ‘next’ button on his MP3, skipping over the song he was using for the base of his Alter and losing his sense of direction for a moment. He fumbled to get back to where he needed to be, Izaya’s laugh adding an unwanted layer to Jarret’s soundtrack. “Should I take that as the latter?”

“No, because you pulled that out of your ass right now to mess with me, and I’m not playing along.” Fuck listening for any approaching enemies; the place was pretty much deserted, and if something _did _happen, Izaya was more than capable of taking care of it. Jarret went to shove the other earbud in, but Izaya wasn’t about to let Jarret have the last word.

“Are you sure about that?”

Jarret paused the track he was listening to, since it wasn’t doing much good, and stopped walking, turning to face Izaya. “Sure about what? That you’re a sociopathic prick? Why, yes. Yes, I am.”

“Now, now, you know that’s not what I mean. Are you sure that I just made that scenario up to mess with you?” Jarret tried not to let his frustration show any further; Izaya lived off of seeing people’s reactions, and Jarret wasn’t about to become another plaything. Unconcerned, Izaya continued, “I’m pretty sure that Karellen-chan has mentioned how she can’t use her Reality Alter without mine or Shizu-chan’s permission, hasn’t she?”

“You were literally in the same damn car—”

“How do you suppose that condition got set up?”

Jarret stopped halfway through coming up with a retort. While it had been essential to mention the restriction, the how it had happened was a lower priority, especially in comparison to getting the rest necessary to raid the damn CMA’s Headquarters. Of course, it wasn’t that hard to figure out. Karellen had mentioned that she used her powers as a bargaining chip, which meant she’d put it into place, so then—

“When she used the writing for the Alter,” Jarret said, all the nausea from their earlier scale up the side of the building coming back in full force, “you put something in there. Something else besides having control of her powers.” Izaya grinned, and that was all the confirmation that Jarret needed to get pissed. “What did you do? What did you make her do for you?”

“Whoops, you’re close there, but not quite right.” Izaya skipped backwards down the hall, tauntingly right out of Jarret’s immediate reach. “‘Cause you see, Jar-chan, it’s not about what I _made_ her do for me—

“It’s about what I _can_ make her do.”

* * *

Karellen had transported herself enough time to know what it felt like, and she was able to shake off the adverse effects pretty fast, all things considered. She only needed the nearby wall to stand for a few moments, and then she was up on her feet, glancing around the hallway for any signs of where the hell she had gone.

“Heiwajima-san!”

“Huh? Oh, it’s you.” Though most people in Karellen’s experience tended to feel somewhat nauseous after getting teleported with a Reality Alter, Shizuo was made of tougher stuff, and he seemed to have no issue at all with regaining his bearings. “Where the hell are we?”

“That’s a fabulous question that I don’t have an answer for.” Going off of appearances, they were still in the CMA’s basement level, but almost anything was possible when Reality Alters got involved. “For all we know, this is an illusion, but I’m going to bet on it being real. I’m not getting that buzzy feeling, plus it would take a shit ton of energy to actually pull something like that off, and the CMA would rather use its resources on more worthwhile things than trapping us in something fake.” Oh, sure, it was a trap alright, but not one that depended on constant Chaos Manipulation.

Shizuo grunted, not sounding very convinced. “You mentioned that before, but you never got into what exactly these people _are_ aiming for.” Karellen wandered up and down the hall, poking around in hopes of discovering some sort of hint of which way to go, but all the walls were unmarked, without anything to distinguish one from another. “Why the hell do you know so much about what’s going on, anyways?”

Karellen held back her sigh. “Heiwajima-san, I get where you’re coming from, but this really isn’t the best time—”

“I’d say after dragging us this far we deserve some answers, don’t we?” Though beginning to sound irritable, Shizuo wasn’t all out annoyed yet—but he could be. And while his anger-fueled super strength would have been satisfying to see tear through the CMA’s HQ, it wouldn’t help in the bigger picture scheme of things to have him pissed off at her. _I don’t want to be on his bad side, and I know he hates getting angry. If explaining things is what it takes—_

Decision made Karellen turned around, plopped herself onto the ground in a sit, and gestured to the spot in front of her for Shizuo to do the same.

“Alright, Heiwajima-san. Let’s talk.”


	15. Target

**Ragnarok**

By: Aviantei

15

Target

* * *

_Two Years Prior_

At sixteen-years-old, Karellen Fenlon liked to think of herself as having a good head on her shoulders. She was overall good in the academic field, she didn’t do anything dangerous that many other kids her age got into, and she had experience in traveling on her own (even if it was just for the extent of a plane ride) without getting lost. It was because she had a pretty high level of maturity that her moms had given her permission to go around the convention center on her own, provided she checked in with regular text messages and stayed with Jarret and Colleen the whole time.

Oh, and it helped that she’d used her powers to write out a scenario where her moms gave her permission to do so and then willed it into reality, but that was kind of an unfair advantage she had over most kids.

She’d discovered her ability on accident a few months back when planning out a rather dramatic fanfiction scene, complete with torrential rainstorms and everything, when the perfectly clear sky clouded over onto a fierce downpour within seconds. She’d had to run to retreat back inside from her spot on the back porch, just saving her notes from becoming smeared. She’d joked with her friends that it was like what she’d written had an impact on reality.

Except a few smaller scale experiments later revealed that her words, did, in fact, alter reality. Not all the time, and only when she willed it (which was a relief, since she wouldn’t have to stop dabbling in her fan works on the side), but it undeniably happened. It wore her out, though, so she didn’t use it for much, but Karellen had thought using her ability to ease her worry about asking for the money to take a con trip was reasonable enough.

The Alter had been a success, and it was why she was in the middle of the convention’s rave-not-rave with Jarret and Colleen. Heavy bass and electronic music pounded over the speakers, flashing lights cut through the dark in erratic patterns, and anime fans of all kinds—some in cosplay and some without—were about dancing, whether it be in larger groups or smaller clusters. Karellen didn’t consider herself much of a dancer, but it was just fun to be surrounded by so many people who loved the same thing that you did while not having a care in the world.

As one heavily remixed anime opening blended into another, Karellen nudged Jarret in the side. “Hey, I’m gonna take a break and head to the bathroom,” she said, raising her voice loud enough to be heard over the music.

Colleen noticed the exchange and shouted, “What?”

“Kar’s going to the bathroom,” Jarret said, passing the message along. Colleen nodded. “You want us to go with you?”

Karellen shook her head. “It’s not that far from here. I’ll head right back when I’m done.” Giving a half-visible wave in the dimness, Karellen worked her way through the crowd and to the exit. It took a couple of blinks for her to adjust to the brightness of the regular convention area, let alone the relative silence, though the bass was still a dull thrum behind the main event hall’s doors.

If memory served her right, the closest restroom was the next hall over. Unlike during the busy day, not as many people were out and about during the late night, so it didn’t take long for her to get where she was going and start to head back. With most of the people who wanted to be in the dance party already inside, the line was near non-existent to get back in.

“Um, hey, excuse us!”

Karellen paused midway back towards the doors, turning to see a duo of magical girl cosplayers. She recognized the character designs from a couple seasons back, but she didn’t remember the names at all. The shorter of the two had an orange wig, and she steepled her hands together. “Sorry, but we were wondering if you’d be willing to take some pictures of us together?”

“Like, you don’t have to if you want to,” said the second, her deep violet wig styled into twin tails that almost reached the floor. “But we have a lot of space now, and we just want a few quick shots together. Nothing fancy.”

“No worries, I don’t mind,” Karellen said with a smile. As tired as she was starting to feel, she didn’t have anywhere to be tomorrow except more panels and prowling the dealer’s hall, and it wouldn’t hurt to help someone else out. “I can’t take too long, since my friends are waiting for me, but I can handle at least pointing and clicking.”

“Great!” In a series of rapid movements, the two magical girls had passed Karellen their phones, put their bags aside, and pulled off their convention lanyards before striking matching poses with their full-sized prop wands pointing directly at the camera. Karellen pointed and clicked, as advertised, and she had to admit the costumes were pretty impressive. She just felt bad that she didn’t recognize them; maybe she’d look up the show and watch a couple of episodes once she got back home from the trip.

About five minutes and dozens of snapped photos later, the cosplayers accepted their phones. “Thanks a bunch,” said Purple Hair, flicking though the images. “For someone that can only ‘point and click,’ these came out great.”

“I’m sure that’s because of all the work you put into your costumes, though,” Karellen said. Despite her manic energy from earlier, she was starting to feel drained, not to mention a headache was threatening to knock her brain right out of her skull.

Orange Hair giggled, blushing. “While that’s nice to hear, it does take more than a pretty subject to make a pic come out good.” She stowed away her own phone in her bag, but her face twisted into worry once she looked back to Karellen. “Are you doing okay? You don’t look so hot.”

“We can, like, walk you back to your room if you’re staying in the hotel here,” Purple offered.

Karellen shook her head. “No, no, you don’t have to do that. I have some friends that came with me—I’ll meet up with them and we can go back.” As much as it would suck to cut the night short, getting some shut eye was probably the best solution.

Orange frowned. “Okay, if you think you’ll be alright. Just be careful, okay?”

With a few more words of concern Karellen headed off, reassessing her mental map—she was still a few hallways over from the main event room, but it wouldn’t be too long of a walk. Navigating through the thudding music with a migraine was going to be the real shitty part, but her stock of painkillers was in the bag she’d checked into storage before entering the dance. She could hold out just a bit longer.

Turning a corner, Karellen saw another cosplayer from the corner of her eye, their build lanky and hidden mostly behind the billowing trench coat they’d outfitted themselves in. She wouldn’t have thought anything about it, except despite the fact that they were on the phone, the person was staring right at her, and a shudder of instinct ripped its way down Karellen’s spine.

_Are they following me? Or am I just being paranoid? Calm down, Karellen. You’re just anxious because it’s late and your tired. Just keep going, find Jarett and Colleen, and head back to the room to gush about all the cool things we saw today._

Taking another turn, she glanced back to see the stranger in the trench coat, and, while they weren’t looking at her anymore, they were still taking the same path she was. Maybe they were headed towards the dance, too, and the main convention area was in the same direction Karellen was headed in, _stop being so fucking paranoid—_

Karellen was so caught up in her thoughts that she ran right into someone else, and the guy’s hands caught onto her shoulders before she could stumble. “Whoa, hey, are you okay?” Karellen nodded, noticing the convention staff badge hanging from his neck. “You’re not looking so good. Do you need to sit down? Have you been eating enough?”

“I’m okay, I’m just a little sick and—” Karellen had been about to tell the staff member about the person possibly following her, but he had looked up for a moment and given the smallest, almost imperceptible nod. _They’re working together. What is this, some human trafficking thing?_ Fighting past the lump in her throat, Karellen got out, “—and I have friends who are waiting for me and I’m running late bye.”

_Some_ part of the universe must’ve been on Karellen’s side, as she managed to get out of the guy’s immediate reach without much hassle—and she power walked as quickly as she could without breaking into a run. While she wanted to head to the main event hall, she didn’t like the idea of getting blocked into a room with only one allowed exit. Instead, she tried her best to remember the way to the connected hotel’s reception desk; if the con staff wasn’t trustworthy, she could at least get help there.

Despite her best efforts, though, Karellen found herself turned around in the hallways, making it not to the hotel, but to the other half of the convention center; while the anime con was easily the biggest of its kind in state, it still didn’t take up all of the available space, and the empty halls looked the same as the ones back at the con, just without anyone there to make a sound.

Then the echo of footsteps from behind her broke that silence, and Karellen’s heart leapt into her throat. Finding the nearest hallway, she sprinted down it, spinning around the closest corner that would put her out of sight and pressing her back against the wall.

She’d managed to throw them off for the moment, but how long would that last? Adrenaline had chased away her headache for the time being, but she still felt winded. Trying not to suck in too loud of breaths that would give away her location, Karellen considered her options. Heading out the exit in the dark seemed too roundabout and asking for trouble, going back to the anime con floor, while having more people around, also meant there were more potential enemies.

_What the fuck? Just what the fuck! Everything’s been safe so far. Why would people just target me out of nowhere and— _Worry and anxiety welled up as tears, as all sort of worst case scenarios wormed their way through her head. She listened to the hallway around the corner, hearing rapid footsteps pounding past her, a slapping beat against the reddish-brown carpets. They’d just missed passing her, but for how long?

The weight of her phone pressed between her pocket and the wall, and Karellen slipped it out of her pocket, hoping to get a text out to Jarret or Colleen. But there wasn’t any guarantee that they’d look for it in the middle of the dance floor. Contacting her moms wouldn’t do any good, since they were a two hour drive away. Resolving herself to call the police, Karellen pressed the home button on her phone.

The screen didn’t light up.

Frantic, she held down the power button—but all she got was the display signaling that the battery needed a charge, and she wasn’t about to get the opportunity to handle _that_ anytime soon.

“_Fuck,_” she breathed, before slapping her hands over her mouth. It didn’t seem like anyone had heard her, which was a small consolation. Based on the sounds that had just passed by, there had to have been at least five or six of them. Maybe more? It seemed impossible to avoid them all, but maybe if she could find a room and hole herself up in there, wait until the janitorial staff or whoever would arrive first to help…

Determined, Karellen stuffed her useless phone back in her pocket and listened hard for any signs of someone approaching. Whenever all she got was silence and a few distant echoes of movement, Karellen slipped around the corner to where she remembered some conference room doorways being. She reached the closest one and turned the handle with a prayer mingling amongst her thoughts. It opened, and Karellen slipped inside, closing the door behind her as quickly as she could without slamming it.

The door didn’t have any sort of windows, but Karellen didn’t dare to turn on the lights anyways, in case it gave her away. Instead, she fumbled around in the door, soon finding several chairs. One by one, she moved them in front of the doorway, making the best possible barricade she could for the circumstances. If she could have, she’d have moved the table she ran into as well, but it was far too heavy for her to handle on her own, not to mention bolted to the floor.

_What I wouldn’t give to have something to write with now…_ She could have used her Reality Alter to guarantee a safe escape, or call off the people following her, or any number of other useful things. Except the closest notebook and pen she knew about were her own, tucked away in the bag she’d left behind in storage, useless unless they were in her hands. Exhaustion catching up with her, Karellen found another chair and flopped down into it, letting out a watery sigh and considering letting the tears pushing at her eyes fall just to get it over with.

Except a light appeared in the dark, and she screamed.

“Hush, hush,” the person before her said. She sat on the table, dressed in an intricate ballgown and wide-brimmed hat that would have looked perfectly at home in a show like _Black Butler_, all lace and frills. The light was coming from an old-style flame lamp, emphasizing the golden-brown shade of her skin. The only thing that broke the illusion of immersion was the convention lanyard hanging around the woman’s neck—and that was the final red flag Karellen needed to know this woman was likely part of the group that had been pursuing her.

She leapt up to her feet again and rushed toward the door, almost tripping over her own barricade in the process of trying to get it out of the way. “I wish you wouldn’t do that,” the woman behind her said, but Karellen didn’t listen, too busy trying to escape the trap while she still had a chance. “If you make a racket, the others will hear you, and then I won’t be able to help you.”

Karellen whirled around, pointing an accusing finger in the woman’s direction. “_Help_ me? You’re one of them!” There was no other reason for the woman to be in this half of the convention center, let alone waiting in a room Karellen had attempted to escape into—there were too many coincidences piling up, there had to be a purpose—

In flickering flamelight, the woman’s beautiful face shifted into a frown. “While I can’t deny that I’m in the same organization as them, I don’t want what they want. I’m genuinely here to help you, Karellen.” Karellen paused further at the sound of her name, unsure of what to believe. The woman could have been stalling until the others surrounded the room. As if sensing the cynicism running rampant in Karellen’s head, the woman said, “I’ll tell the others that you went somewhere else to give us some space. Will that help?”

“Do it,” Karellen said, trying to make her voice sound stronger than she felt.

The woman smiled and nodded, then ran her gloved fingers down the side of her neck in a graceful motion. “Command reporting in. Target has moved towards the parking lot and is likely about to leave mission range. We will cut off pursuit, according to CMA guidelines. Please redistribute and follow appropriate protocol.” And with that, she ran her hands over her neck again.

Karellen quickly corrected her stunned look into a skeptical one; for all intents and purposes, the woman had just appeared to be talking to thin air. The self-declared Command—did that make her a leader?—gave a wry smile. “Yes, sorry, that’s not very convincing from your point of view, now is it? Hold on, dear.”

The woman peeled off one of her gloves and went to scratch at her neck where she’d just skimmed her fingers over moments before—and what appeared to be a patch of skin came off seconds later. Karellen was about to tell her to stop before she recognized that there was no blood, and the black shape of a mic revealed itself under the synthetic patch of skin. In a less dramatic movement, the woman also plucked out a tiny earpiece from its spot, the speaker catching the lamplight for a moment. She offered it out to Karellen.

“You can listen in if you like. Though it’d be better for me to keep it in so I can keep track of what all’s happening outside.”

Karellen shook her head, feeling too dumbstruck to string words together. She forced her tongue to work, anyways. “What… _Who_ are you?”

Reassembling her equipment, it took but a few seconds for the woman to go back to being a cosplayer in a beautiful dress, though the shifting light casted moving shadows over her face. “That’s a good question. Since I already know your name, I should give you mine.” Elbow length glove back in place, she pressed a hand to her chest. “I’m Commander Kaluhiokalani, leading officer of this Chaos Management Agency mission. And you and I, dear, have a lot to talk about.”


End file.
